


Prisoner Of Mine: Sequel to Impulse

by SS98



Series: Impulse Series [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Edward, Abusive Harry, Alcoholism, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Barebacking, Beating, Blindfolds, Blood Play, Blow Jobs, Body Worship, Bottom Harry, Bottom Louis, Butt Plugs, Come Shot, Comeplay, Daddy Edward, Daddy Harry, Daddy Kink, Dark Harry, Deepthroating, Dirty Talk, Dom Edward, Dom Harry, Dubious Consent, Exhibitionism, Explicit Sexual Content, Felching, Forced Sex, Hate Sex, Horror, Innocent Louis, Jealous Edward, Jealous Harry, Killer Edward, Killer Harry, Kinks galore, Louis in Lace, Louis in Lingerie, Louis in Panties, M/M, Mental Illness, Mention of Mental Illness, Minor Character Death, Molestation, Multi, Multiple Orgasms, Ocassionally, Oral Sex, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Orgasm Denial, Original Character(s), Possessive Behavior, Possessive Harry, Protective Edward, Protective Harry, Psycho Edward, Psycho Harry, Psychopath Edward, Psychopath Harry, Psychotic Edward, Psychotic Harry, Riding, Rimming, Rough Kissing, Rough Sex, Sequel, Sexual Content, Sinister Harry, Slightly Abusive Relationship, Smoking, Snogging, Spanking, Student Louis, Sub Louis, Supernatural Elements, Swearing, Threesome, Threesome - M/M/M, Top Edward, Top Harry, Violence, Violent Edward, Violent Harry, Violent Sex, Voyeurism, beatings, dark edward, mentions of molestation, non-con, overprotective Harry, possessive Edward, psychologist Louis, trigger warning, voyeur
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-05-27 02:07:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 88,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6265396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SS98/pseuds/SS98
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>'A knight in shining armor is a knight who never had his armor tested.'</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sequel to Impulse.</p><p>Louis, Harry and Edward had their worlds become one after more than a war of wits and heart. The demons of their past come back stronger than ever just as they find peace together. Shadows from what they thought was left behind have grown and developed the faces that will continue to haunt them.</p><p>"We're all prisoner to something."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Warnings.

Many of you guessed that this story will be brought back to life, and here it is. As always, there are warnings in every one of my stories and here are those for this one:

\- Abuse (Violence, Rape, Torture, Murder, etc.)

\- Character Death (not any of the three main characters)

\- Explicit Sexual Content (Get ready o.O)

\- Triggers for smoking, blood-play, drug use, alcohol abuse and swearing. 

I plan to make this story as out-of-the-box as I can and am as excited as can be to start it.


	2. Prologue.

**_[A/N: EXCITED DOES NOT BEGIN TO DESCRIBE THESE EMOTIONS. Mind you, this is the prologue and not chapter one. - S xx]_ **

_We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones. - Stephen King._

Louis' mind was empty, unbeholden to any thoughts whatsoever because never before has exhaustion been this _raw_. It ripped off the dwindling reserves of energy from his nerves and lit his chest on fire with burnt match sticks. He felt like he was dying from the inside out and nobody cared to save him.

He's never been faced with a horror of this grandeur before. It stared down at him, at his panic as if it had a tongue and could taste how afraid he was. He was _shaking_ and if not leaps closer to collapsing into a faint heap of an absent mind. This would kill him, now from a bullet or tomorrow from grief.

The decision faces him with viciously snapping teeth and blood dripping from those poised, sharpened canines. He could hardly breathe around the strangling vine of a broad arm wrapping around his neck, continually paralysing his resistance when he attempted an escape. His stature and weak strength work against him to magnificent standards, leaving him violently trembling and bruised all along his back.

 _"Choose!"_ A thunderous voice made Louis wince and choke on a scream when it rang out right beside his ear.

He looked up from the ground where the stone was cold and jagged, his swollen and bleeding lip quivering uncontrollably. The eyes he met were just as broken as he felt, two pairs of dignified defensiveness and towers of strength. _How did they get here?_

Louis swallowed thickly though his mouth was dry and his chest inexplicably hollow. He let his head hang lifelessly, no strength in his muscles and body to even keep himself upright. Dehydration and depression were the pair to administer if one wanted to utterly ruin a person.

"Choose!" Dexter bellowed again, picking up on the hesitation in Harry's eye so quickly.

Louis let a tear fall. It would stain his shirt and leave something behind. He knew how conflicted Harry was, because Edward was convinced already. Looking up after a choked sob from Dexter tightening his arm enough to throttle his air supply, Louis met Harry's eye and shook his head. 

He was going to give this up. He had to in order to save Anne's life. Dexter was making his sons choose between her and Louis, an easy choice for Edward but not for Harry. Louis felt riddled with misery from his guilt and extorted support. He was not going to let Harry live like this forever. He had to choose Anne, regardless of what happened to him afterwards.

Edward stood behind his brother, staring all the while at Louis without an expression. He had his fists clenched, bloody streaks across them. The elder twin was vibrating with rage but he had no way of expressing it without risking their petal. Louis pleaded with him through their non-verbal contact, desperate to have him change his mind.

"You made me choose." Louis' communication was cut short when Dexter pulled him closer and tugged Anne nearer as well, tightening the proximity of their choices. "Now choose for yourselves."

Harry was the one who had to make the biggest decision of his life. He was breathing unevenly and his head was too light on his shoulders, too many memories fleetingly brushing past his focus. His petal or his mother. The gun in his hand held no control over him, it was just him in this conflicted state incapable of a small choice.

His petal was begging him not to choose him but why wouldn't he? Louis was everything to him, the world and more. Harry wanted to toss the gun aside and _scream_ , pull at his hair and cry if it would get him out of this situation. He had blood on his hands and on his face, crimson lines across his skin and his own injuries on display. 

Nothing. Not a damn thing compared to the pain of maybe never holding his petal again.

"Choose." This time it was Edward who whispered to him, monotonous and callous with his brother. Even he has abandoned Harry to do this on his own.

When Harry looked back at him, Edward's eyes were on Louis. He wasn't going to lose a second with his lover. It felt like the end. Harry's hand shook as he tightened his finger around the trigger. There were no bullets, nothing to do.

His forfeiture was answer enough.


	3. I

**_[A/N: Lots of you wanted this and lots of you didn't. I'm doing it for who knows what reason so o.O sorry. The title took me an hour to come up with, which is a record in itself. I am going to pretend like I know what I'm doing from here on out. I hope you enjoy :) P.S. Let's pretend we live in a world where polygamy is legal, kay? - S xx]_ **

***NARRATOR'S POV***

Louis arrived home after one of his least favourite days at work with flushed skin and a bone-dry taste of exhaustion. He had to be driven home by one of his obnoxious colleagues because he asked Edward and Harry to go out tonight for no reason other than they can't stay cooped up in the apartment boring themselves to death. 

The apartment was silent and smelt of the detergents their cleaning company used weekly. With a troubled sigh, Louis hauled his work over to what remained from previous days on the dining room table and kicked off his shoes one by one on his way to the bedroom. A shower and a glass of their reddest wine is what he needed most.

He flipped the switch on for the light in the master bedroom and nearly screamed himself hoarse when the first thing he witnessed was the curtain shifting. It turned out to only be the window itself that was open and letting in a cruel draft to offset the balanced temperature produced by their thermostat. 

Louis stood on his tiptoes and closed the window, latching it to make the deed irreversible. He could hear something soft and repetitive, a light knocking other than the ticking of their analogue clock above the mantelpiece in the lounge. Louis was too tired with too sore feet to go around looking so he merely slipped into the brightly illuminated bathroom to freshen up.

He felt his eyelids grow remarkably heavy and stinging from the power of the light bulb in here and yawned once before bending over to unbutton his jeans and peel off his socks. 

The creaking of a closing door right behind him and the appearance of two other feet had him jolting upright again, panic flaring in his chest for fear of an intruder.

"Your emotions are so easily expressed on your face, petal." Rather than a criminal invader, it was none other than Louis' _husband_ trying his nerves. 

"Not today, Edward." He glared through the mirror at the approaching individual, grumbling stubbornly when all he got was Edward's hands on his hips and lips at his throat. The actions were strong and forceful, daring Louis to try and deny him. 

Edward's mouth travelled from behind his ear to his most sensitive spot, rendering him paralysed with a tender nibble to the skin. "You had a bad day, darlin'?"

Louis met Edward's eye via the mirror, stormy green on mellow blue. "Yeah."

"My poor baby." Edward's voice held no sympathy. "Care to explain why I wasn't the one to bring you home?"

"Not really." Once it was out of his mouth Louis regretted it. He hissed loudly and it echoed through the en-suite bathroom when Edward's palm met his clothed behind in an unkind spanking. 

"No sass from you, petal." Edward's fingers curled around Louis' neck and yanked him back, exposing more of the pale column to his abusive teeth. 

Those sharp pointed teeth scraped Louis' pulse and left the blood in his veins singing with suggestive interaction, with the familiar knotting in his abdomen. "I-I missed you."

Edward chuckled and found locations along Louis' neck to lay his gentle kisses. "Of course you did, petal. Now answer the question."

Louis huffs petulantly. He'd much rather _not_ tell Edward his lame excuse for not calling him to be picked up. There wasn't much he could do to distract his spouse now that he's turned around. "Are you mad at me?"

"I wish I could be." It was clearly visible when and for how long Edward raked his gaze over Louis' form like it was their first time together. "I'd blame the world before I blame you, petal."

Louis forced Edward's hands off him for two seconds so he could turn around, wincing when those palms reattached to his bare skin as it pried his shirt off. He was accustomed to their roughness and often mourned their absence when either twin decided to be gentle with him.

"Where's Harry?" He asked to avert the path of their conversation, looking into Edward's stunning emerald eyes that were so powerful and so numb at the same time. 

"He went out and didn't tell me why." Edward lowered his grasp to Louis' pants, deftly working his fingers over to unbutton and unzip.

"Did you fight with him again?" It was not uncommon for the brothers to encounter a disagreement and behave like children about it. Louis pulls his shirt off his shoulders and smirks at Edward's lingering eye contact. "My eyes are up here."

"I am well aware of where your eyes are, petal. It isn't your eyes I'm looking at." Edward remarked with a sinister edge to his smile that made his dimple sharp instead of charming.

Louis rolled his eyes and was caught giggling when Edward suddenly jerked his whole body forward by his hips. He collided with the man's firm torso and gasped when his nether regions were explored by Edward's nimble fingertips.

"Shower with me?" Louis offered, his finger trailing up Edward's shaven jaw to his lips. 

The corner of Edward's smile turned up further and his smirk turned devious, full of his own personal agenda. It was no secret either what those intentions were for only a minute passed under the spray of warm water before Edward gifted himself with the sight of Louis turning around and bending over.

"Hands on the glass, petal." He instructed curtly, one hand clasped around Louis' hip while the other was working his length to full hardness. It was easily achieved.

He pushed into Louis sans anything besides saliva for lube. The boy under him groaned from the stretch after a day of not being violated, scratching the glass as he arched his back in the air. Edward cupped his glorious posterior to fill both hands and thrusted forth to bottom out. Louis' shout was clouded over by the gushing water.

It was impossible for Edward to resist any primal urges when it came to Louis. He let himself lay still inside, buried deep and to the hilt inside his lover for a moment to adjust. All the while for the duration he bent with Louis and peppered kisses up his back, tasting the sweet essence and scenting Louis' naked skin like his own. His hands brushed reverently up and down his petal's sides, slipping under to massage where thigh met pelvis. 

That was Louis' weak spot and he mewled helplessly when Edward abused it, rolling his hips back to signal that he's ready. Edward was wide enough in girth and long enough to fill him up perfectly, stuffing his body full whenever they explored each other. Louis gasped and choked on a pleasured sob when Edward retracted before slamming all the way in, bruising his insides and breaching him in the most satisfying way.

He made breathless, broken noises as Edward found a rhythm and used it to pound into his tired state. Hands were at his hips to keep them still even when he wavered, his own erection fattening up painfully as his prostate was discovered. Edward pried his cheeks apart and the taut skin of Louis' rim worsened the pain of pleasure, knocking him forward with each athletic thrust.

Edward slammed his fist onto the lever to control the water so it shut off, moving forward to press Louis up against the glass. He slid a hand under Louis' thigh and hiked that one up, biting down on the boy's neck punishingly when he whimpered from this new angle.

He was perfectly exposed in this angle, his leg bent and supported by Edward's strength off the ground. Louis breathed harshly onto the frosted glass, one hand connected with Edward's against the cool surface. Everything was a pit of flames and _torturous_ pleasure inside him, aching whenever Edward pulled out to have him back in. The explicit sound of squelching from poor lubricant and skin slapping skin was music to their ears.

Edward's mouth latched onto Louis' neck, filled with dirty comments. He made new bruises, purple and angry red, as Louis' nails dug mercilessly into his knuckles where their fingers were interlocked. Louis clenched involuntarily around Edward's shaft, hot and throbbing inside him. He whined from how it brushed his sensitive spot without moving, his insides becoming so tender from Edward stretching him open so savagely. 

"Hmm." Edward pulled out slowly, painfully slow, and waited with just the bulbous head of his c*ck inside Louis. He heard Louis inhale and made him _choke_ on it by pushing back in. "There's my good boy. Letting me do whatever I want with you, slut?"

The space they were in was so closed, so tight around them that Louis felt like he was breathing only what Edward gave him. He nodded vehemently and lost himself to Edward's precise thrusts, apt and punching his prostate at each interval. 

"O-Oh _God_ \- Daddy!" He cried out hopelessly when he came, spilling onto the tiles and squirming when Edward didn't stop, hips pivoting wildly. 

Edward brought his fist around Louis' neck, cutting off his air supply and thrusting shallowly in small gyrating motions. Upward and onward he nudged Louis' sore walls to obey him. "You will say _my_ name or nothing."

As quick as it was inside him, Louis felt Edward pull out for good and turn him around. His eyes were glazed over with lust and Edward was nearly blinded by it, a beast of a man present in his black eyes. 

The man's arm extended behind him and two fingers _patted_ over his hole. "On your knees, petal."

Louis was eager to please but first he got up on his tiptoes and connected their lips. He felt Edward give in easily and tasted the inside of his lover's mouth with a tongue massaging one more dominant that it. Edward's nails ran down his side and provoked him, growling as Louis withdrew.

 _"On your knees, petal."_ He gritted, something lustful and dark misting the beautiful green.

Edward's c*ck was throbbing in Louis' hand, aroused and slick from their previous amorous activity. Louis got down on his knees and kitten licked the swollen tip, tasting the saltiness of precome and sucking on the head with a moan to send vibrations coursing through Edward's body. He felt a hand settle on the back of his head and took more of the length into his mouth, peering up through his wet lashed into the animalistic gaze controlling everything he did.

Louis sought and found the vein on the underside of Edward's c*ck, pressing his tongue into where the pulse was strongest and smirking at the groan he pulls from Edward. He gets pushed down by force to take more, gagging momentarily on the taste and feel of it down his throat. Tears spring to his eyes, stinging and irritable. 

"Fuck, petal." Edward muttered, watching everything with wide and excited eyes. "Your mouth is sin, baby."

Sputtering, he pops off the erection and continues to pump it with his fist while he rolled Edward's balls between his fingers and then teased them with his tongue. Edward's fingers tightened in his hair when he dug the tip of his nail into the slit exposed by the man's foreskin, but he was too greedy to be away for long. Louis ran his tongue over the swollen slit, doing it again and again before taking as much of Edward's length as he could and dragging his teeth along it. 

Louis wasn't proud but he knew how skilled he's become since he met the twins and read the telltale signs that Edward was close. He kissed up Edward's toned abdomen, teeth scraping his abs and finally he was pushed back down. 

"Open your mouth." Edward was close. He pumped his length over Louis' face and came shortly after all over the boy's visage, from chin to hairline and missing his mouth entirely.

"I did well, Daddy?" Louis asked later when he was hanging off Edward's body under the shower, legs wrapped around him and elbows resting on the man's muscular shoulders. 

Edward hummed in acknowledgement. "You were magnificent, petal."

  
* * * * *  


Sundays are the best days. Louis would preach it on roofs and write it at the end of every invitation if he could, but today is a different Sunday to all the other magnificent ones.

Normally, he and the twins only woke up to see the lazy sun around nine or ten, just for them to drag themselves out of bed two hours later. With Louis working five days a week, both Edward and Harry have been deprived of their petal and need to catch up.

Today was different because Edward's been convinced to go out and run through their errands on his own so Harry could have their petal all to himself. It was only fair after Edward picked Louis up after work on Friday and only brought him home yesterday. Harry didn't mind because he _always_ got his turn.

"Bye." Louis walked Edward to the door with his phone and in his _Daddy H_ T-shirt. He's gotten three sets in total now; white, black and the lightest pink shade.

"Bye, petal." Edward chuckled and jerked Louis closer by his waist for a prolonged union of their lips. 

Louis was blushing when they pulled away, an inexplicable joy that both twins get to behold after anything intimate. Edward took a chance and pulled Louis' shirt down over his voluptuous behind before leaving with a wink. 

"Oh." Louis rushed out after him, hanging off the hinges off the door. "Edward!"

The man was halfway to the elevators when he answered, not turning around though he was amused. "Yes, petal?"

"Can you get me those gummies I like on your way back?!" He had to raise his voice to be heard as other people were moving around on their way out or getting back in. 

"Okay!" Edward was laughing when he replied. "Now get inside and put pants on, darlin'."

Louis pouted at Edward's retreating back and rolled his eyes nonchalantly. "I love you!"

That made Edward turn around instantly, Louis' smug grin never expiring. The man smirked knowingly and raised his left hand in a two-finger wave that showed his wedding ring. He mouthed the reply. "I love you too."

Louis was giddy as a teenager when he shut the door after that, chewing his lip with an unbreakable smile as he padded soundlessly back into the bedroom. Harry was mildly asleep on his front, the sheets pooling around his naked waist as his hair splayed out across the pillow he shared with Louis last night. 

He hadn't changed all that much in the year they've spent living in Seattle. Harry still slept like this every night and ate breakfast the slowest, showered the longest. Louis was careful not to disturb him too early as he crawled up to straddle Harry's back.

"Harry?" He lowered his lips to the dozing man's ear, teeth latching onto the lobe. "Wake up."

No sign of life came from him. Louis giggled and pried the covers off Harry's body to fit their bodies together and conceal himself as well. An arm that wasn't his own wound securely around his waist, pulling Louis against Harry's chest. 

"I knew you were awake." The boy kisses Harry's chin, shortly after snuggling into the man's chest. "You're a terrible actor, Harold."

Harry cracked one eye open, the green of the pulsating orb behind the lid just settling into the day. He smiled lazily with one dimple visible and dragging his fingertips up Louis' back. 

"Petal." Harry's voice was scratchy like his jaw and he nipped at Louis' finger when it neared his lips. "You better let me sleep, Lou."

Louis squirmed restlessly and pushed Harry onto his back. The man went happily with a bemused sigh, watching his petite lover scramble onto his bare lap. He chuckled when Louis saw his limp manhood and shifted away from it, sitting astride Harry's abdomen.

"Or not." Harry added with a glint of fond exasperation. He grasped Louis' full hips and indelicately kneaded the firm flesh. 

"Look outside, Daddy." Louis motioned to the rare sunlight shining through their exposing bedroom windows. "Let's go _outside_."

"I'd much rather stay here." Harry lifted his hips and Louis gasped with heat rising to his cheeks.

"Behave." Louis chastised weakly with a crack in his voice. He felt Harry hardening between his legs and decided to ignore it. "We could go to the park."

Harry wrapped his arms around Louis' middle and rolled them over, effectively losing the trap of sheets around them. Louis laughed and had a special type of brightness present in his gaze when Harry connected their lips. His petal tasted like a caramel sweet he'd stolen from the jar in their kitchen and Harry moaned as he licked into the taste.

Louis kicked his feet free of the sheets and wrapped his legs around Harry's waist, their hips aligned and his shirt being hiked up further and further. He bit down on Harry's bottom lip and mewled when the man cupped his jaw, rolling his hips forward and growling into the kiss.

"We could stay here." Harry's hand sneaked underneath Louis' body, his strength mightier than Louis' as he arched the boy's back and peeled his panties off. 

Lips dragged across Louis' clavicle, his fingers threaded through Harry's hair. Louis whimpered when those lips found his nipple, suckling on the hardening nub to turn it pink and sensitive. He raked his nails down Harry's back when the man's nimble fingers pried his cheeks apart, prodding at his hole.

"We could fuck." Harry murmured hotly into Louis' ear, smirking when his lover whined and spread his legs further. "Such a slut for me, baby. Doesn't take much to convince you to spread these thighs for me."

Louis keened when Harry's dry fingertip circled his puckered rim, applying pressure and then plunging into his body. He gasped and cried out from the intrusion, fingers digging into Harry's forearms. Harry kissed down the curve of his front, dipping his hot tongue into Louis' belly button and venturing further. 

"O-Only for you, Daddy." Louis promised him breathlessly, legs thrown over Harry's shoulders. 

Harry licked a warning stripe over Louis' perineum, felt the boy's body shudder as a result, before diving in to take full advantage of Louis' pliant form.

  
* * * * *  


"What's this?" Louis sat on the breakfast counter in fresh panties and the same shirt, the only different being a plug fitted snugly into him. It made him twitch or shift every two seconds.

Harry was bare from the low-hanging waist of his sweatpants upward. He had thick black socks on to protect himself from how cold their tiles could be. "What's what, petal?"

Louis popped another grape from the bowl in his lap into his mouth, extending his leg to poke Harry's back with his toe. "We're married now. You have to pay more attention to me."

With a quirk of his eyebrow, Harry turned around with a plate of scrambled eggs. He set it down on the counter and got close enough to Louis to unite their lips. Louis loved kissing Harry. He was always so uncoordinated and turned any peck into a steamy session not meant for public viewing. A smile tugged on his lips as Louis hooked his feet on Harry's hips and dragged him closer. 

"We are married." Harry kissed down Louis' neck. "How can I forget?"

Louis sent Harry back to the stove with a huff. The man chuckled in his rough and rugged attitude, pulling on Louis' hand until he could see their ring. He spent many an hour just admiring how Louis' finger was so suited to the ring on it. 

The design was elegant and crafted by both twins. They drew their own single-banded rings and had it made before connecting them with a precious sapphire jewel. It looked so humble for their individual bands were merely steel intertwined into knots, then the sapphire right in the middle. 

"I love you." Louis coaxed Harry back to earth by bumping his cheek and kissing his stubble. "My Daddy."

Harry's chuckle was buried with his affection in Louis' neck. "My petal."

While Harry went back to frying the bacon and toasting the English muffins, Louis was _supposed to_ be boiling water for their tea. Instead he was texting on his phone whilst being bent over the counter, absentmindedly nibbling on more grapes. 

Harry turned the stove off in time to turn around and uncover this sinful image facing him. He bit his lip at the sight of Louis' pert bottom on display whether or not on purpose for him. Louis' skin was always hairless except for those fine invisible baby hairs on his tummy, his legs with healthily toned skin wearing the softest fabric at home. Harry worshipped Louis' body, his un-inked and smooth body that led up to a beautiful mind. 

Without shame marring his intentions, Harry left the plate on the counter beside Louis' arm and stopped the boy from straightening up by pressing his hand into the dip of his back.

"Petal." Harry started off sounding both disapproving and pained as the bulge in his pants met Louis' sweet behind. "If you're going to disobey me, you should be careful whilst doing it."

Louis looked back over his shoulder with a bitten lip and curled fingertips against the counter. Harry brought his palms down to gently massage the firmness of Louis' arse with greedy strokes. He sank his teeth into Louis' shoulder and teasingly ground his growing erection into the boy's voluntarily push back against him. 

"Daddy." Louis' jaw slackened when Harry laced his fingers through his hair and yanked him back suddenly, a pained whine leaving his wet lips. 

"For being such a tease, petal." Harry bit down hard on Louis' earlobe and heard him cry out. "I'm going to have to punish you, baby."

"S-Sorry, Daddy." He had his hips drawn back with no care for delicacy and Harry spanked his left cheek to watch it turn a desirable red shade.

His lover groaned in response to the high-pitch of his voice, the submissiveness of his arched back and curled toes. He was so eager to be pinned down and _used_ that Harry hardly ever thought beyond asking before. Harry fisted his shirt and pulled it up to expose more of his skin, his open-mouthed kisses branding Louis' hot skin the lower he went.

"Spread your legs." Harry abruptly pulled away and Louis whined helplessly as he obeyed, always obeyed his Daddy. "Head down, baby. I didn't say you could look."

Louis pouted as he bowed his head between his shoulders and found the nerve to stick his bum out far more provocatively than necessary. His ears pricked at the sound of the refrigerator opening and closing.

He felt Harry's return when the man ran his warm hands down the inside of his thigh, reaching his panties. A finger hooked over the lacy fabric and peeled it off his skin so it landed as a pool of lace at his ankles.

"Your hole is so perfect, petal." Harry's nails scraped the flushed skin of his rim as he tugged and tugged teasingly on the plug. Louis rolled his hips back and Harry punished him by digging the toy in deeper. "Be _still_ , petal."

Going limp, Louis waited until Harry pulled the plug out of him horrendously slow. The black plastic object dragged across his insides, stretching it out one last time before being allowed to clench shut. Harry pressed his thumb onto the swollen skin, abused and glistening. He didn't want his come to leak out from this morning and so took control of the angle Louis stood with.

Louis jerked away when something _freezing_ cold rubbed over his hole. That area of him was too private, too warm to be met with cold touched. He couldn't look and yet he wanted to so badly. Harry's nails dug into his cheeks whenever he moved, scratching the supple flesh and marking it up.

"Shh." Harry massaged over Louis' puckered rim to spread the mysterious cool liquid around. 

He waited two beats before returning the icy sensation to Louis' entrance. It was without hesitation this time for Harry pressed the cube harder and with more pressure until the tight muscle gave way and his body accepted the invasion. Louis was panting already and his nails grated against the marble surface of the counter.

"D-Daddy." Louis couldn't resist and had to peek over his shoulder back at what Harry's mischievously up to.

He was burning up from the inside when whatever Harry's put in him ices the inner lining of his walls and causes him to whimper from the frequent chills it sends up the path of his spine. The same path that Harry's tracing with his reverent lips and flickering tongue, peppering the knobs of his spinal column with worship and effort.

Louis caught his breath in his throat chokingly when Harry nudged the plug back in, one slick slide and the toy was in place. It had a small enough inner piece to not brush continually against his prostate like their bigger toys and its black colour made it one of Louis' favourites.

Harry gave Louis' nape a gentle peck and turned him around to secure him against the counter's edge, arms stretched out on either side of him. Louis got his pout kissed away fervently and his panties drawn back up his legs to rest fittingly over his behind. Harry's smirk was undeniable and unsmotherable as he swooped down and his lips collided with Louis'. They were both smiling into it, teeth pulling on lips and tongues prying their mouths open.

"How's it feel?" Harry kisses Louis between words in his question. He winds his arms around Louis' slender hips and effectively sticks his tongue down Louis' throat.

After freeing himself for air, Louis thumbs over Harry's earlobes as their foreheads rest on each other. He shivers when something unknown and foreign sinks to the base of his body, pooling around the plug and threatening to escape him. 

"Ice cubes, petal." Harry chuckled darkly, ducking down to suck a bruise into the permanent scar on Louis' neck. 

Louis chokes on the air in his lungs when he hears that, clenching around the cool rush inside him. How _obscene_ was it for him to bite his lip and moan about the fact that he's feeling something so unconventional and _sinful_ melting inside him. Their sexual escapades were forever out of the ordinary but so he had something to blame Harry's _creativity_ on.

  
* * * * *  


"I just realised that we don't have an anniversary." Louis lounged on their L-shaped couch with Harry wrapped around him. 

"We don't need one." Said his companion, pulling more and more on the hem of Louis' shirt to have more skin to kiss. 

"I guess that's true." Louis sips from his tall glass of orange juice, setting it down on the coffee table in front of the ignored television.

Harry encircled Louis' waist and sat up, taking the boy with him so they were a tangle and a half with their quilt to blame. Louis braced his arms on Harry's shoulders and tucked his feet under the other's thighs where they'd be warm. He seemed to have a chronic case of cold feet. 

Louis looked down at the man gazing up silently at him, combing his fingertips through Harry's hair as he gracefully settled himself on his lap. Harry pulled the quilt closer and sealed it around them. "Do you think Niall is still upset with us?"

"Hardly." Harry leaned back and Louis rested all his weight on him, curled up on his chest where he was most safe.

Nobody could blame Niall for being angry with them enough to call Louis and hang up regularly. They _did_ fly to Vegas to get _married_ and never uttered a word of it to him. They've been married for a little under a year and Niall only found out a week ago.

"Would you still be mad?" Louis tilted his head back and asked, sneezing once softly and swatting Harry's chest when he chuckled. There was also a squeeze to his bum that he ignored.

Harry raised an eyebrow at the question. "If you married me and failed to inform me?"

"No." Louis knew better than to stick his tongue out at Harry but he wanted to. "If I married-"

"Don't even think of belonging to someone else." Harry warned him, a formidable glaze curtaining his calm. "In any and every world you are ours."

"I know. I'm yours always." Louis twirled one of Harry's curls around his finger. "I'm just worried that I really hurt him."

"He's your friend, petal." Harry's done a lot to accommodate Niall as a close friend of Louis' yet he still flinches when he has to state it. "He will forgive you."

"We should have told him." Louis reminisces regretfully. "I'm going to blame you so I don't look bad."

"Go ahead, petal." Harry laughs and kisses his temple. "I am at your disposal."

Louis grinned up at his _husband_ \- he'll never fully adjust to it. "This is why I love you."

  
* * * * *  


_A year ago..._

"Let's get married, petal." 

They were lying in bed late into the night with nothing to do the next day, naked and regaining control of themselves as they basked in their postcoital glow. Edward had said it and two heads turned to curiously peer at him. 

"What do you mean?" Louis turned on his side and Harry sidled up behind him, weighing down the comforter he used to cover himself. 

"What else can marriage mean, petal?" Edward chuckled mindlessly, watching where Harry's hand connected with Louis' and their tattoos aligned. "We get rings and say 'I do' in a chapel."

Louis fishmouths for want of understanding. "W-W- _Right now_?"

"I like the idea." Harry briefly reaches for something behind him and comes back with an almost extinguished cigarette pinched between his fingers. 

"But-" Louis strives to gain an objection but fails. 

Marriage? How crazy is getting hitched to two psychopaths going to be? How exciting? Their lives won't change although maybe his name might. He chews his lip, hopped up on adrenaline and something warm dripping out of him. He's most relaxed after their most intimate sessions so he figures that's why Edward brought it up now.

"Let's do it." Louis agrees, mirroring Edward's smile when he's pulled in for it. "I'd still like a proposal, you know."

"Of course." Harry nuzzled his neck from behind. "You deserve a proposal after you've been fucked so thoroughly."

Louis swatted Harry's arm for his vulgarity and waved away the excess smoke from his cigarette, the glowing end finally dying out as it burned out. They hadn't prepared beyond one overnight bag and Louis' anxiety skyrocketing through the roof. Despite all this, an hour later they had booked plane tickets and were on their way to the airports.

"You should ease up on the pretzels, petal. You won't fit into your dress otherwise." Edward jovially commented from the driver's side as he parked under the long-term lot and winked at Louis' glare. 

Regardless of Edward's remarks, Louis held his bag of pretzels close and chewed his lip to a state of bleeding. He was _nervous_ and had many things to blame. Marriage is something so sacred and carefully planned everywhere in the world yet here they are having made the decision in ten minutes. Were they ready? He scoffed at the question because there aren't any doubts that he won't spend a _second_ in anyone else's company.

Edward handled getting the tickets while Harry walked with Louis pointlessly around the food court, their bag slung over his shoulder. He knew how anxious Louis was over this and so secretly hoped this much movement will ease his troubles.

"Hungry?" He asked when they passed a Cinnabon.

"Can't eat." Louis chirped with a pained swallow of the lump in his throat. He tried not to let his fear show.

"Petal." Harry brought them to a stop, framing Louis' face in his palms and studying those marvellous blue eyes. "Don't be afraid of this. Nothing in our home will change because of this."

Louis held onto Harry's steel wrists. "We're getting _married_ , Harry. Everything has to change."

"No, it doesn't." Harry reeled him in and kissed his forehead twice. "No it doesn't, petal."

Their flight was two hours long, give or take. Edward booked them into first class and their quartet of seats had a table between the pairs. Louis dumped their duffel bag in the empty seat and sat against the window, across from Edward and curled up in his cushioned chair. 

"Petal." Edward had Louis' socked feet on his lap. He pleaded with the boy to say something. "Talk to me, baby."

Louis pulled away from the window and leaned forward on the table. "We're getting married."

"Do you have doubts?" Edward's brow furrowed as he suggested it, like the possibility _hurt_ for him.

"No. None." Louis vows earnestly. "I'm just scared."

"Scared of what?" Edward was looking at him so impassively yet concerned that it unnerved Louis. "Petal, we'll turn this plane around for you."

That's when Louis knew. If given the choice openly, he'd always choose the twins. He smiles, resolved. "Don't do that. I want to go."

Their flight went by quickly because Louis slept through it and their landing woke him up. The chapel Edward and Harry chose was the most expensive one around without impersonating Elvis characters or anything. Louis was no longer terrified when he walked into the building and saw the setting.

White fabric covered the ceiling in loops, divine yet not genuine crystalline ornaments were at odd ends. The carpet down the isle was bright red and somewhat symbolic. The seats were empty but they hadn't cared then. 

Louis got to say the two most significant words in his life looking into the eyes of two souls he treasured above his own. He thinks back while standing there under the terribly dim lighting and an altar with hearts on it, to the awful incidents that led to this moment. Meeting the twins was a nightmare and learning to love them was an even greater one, but he'd take his own life before resenting one moment of it.

Their story was so unique it created pangs of longing in Louis' chest when he recollected any of it. It felt like a lifetime ago when he walked into their cell as a naïve spirit. They left that cell, all three of them, almost two years ago and this ceremony seemed to be what finally set them free.

Louis framed it mentally as the best moment of his life when the marriage was verbally declared official and he kissed Harry and Edward, sanctioned by wedlock. 

The unorthodox celebration after their informal nuptials was declared when Harry heard the raving activities of a nightclub nearby. He wanted to go and he wanted to show off his _spouse_. Louis agreed after being asked the first time but he knew going in that it was bad idea.

Louis was unaware of the club's name but being indoors after Edward bribed the bouncer was supplying him with a much needed rush. His jitters were diminished and he welcomed he first round of shots Harry ordered for them.

"I want to inflict pain in your honour, petal." Harry had Louis in his lap, seated at a booth near the bar. 

Louis looked at the man in disbelief, sipping from his unnamed cocktail and wiping the screen of Edward's phone. "Absolutely not."

"But, baby-" Harry kissed his shoulder in his fervent attempts to be convincing. "-it will be my gift to you."

"No." Louis teasingly popped the 'p' and wiggles in his spot more than necessary. 

Harry's grasp tightened Hellishly on his hips and he took a large gulp of his Guinness beer, condensation rolling down the glass. His lips glistened under the neon strobe lights after the glass left his mouth, a sinful edge to his darkening expression.

Edward was across from them tucking his phone and wallet back into his pocket after opening up a tab under his credit card details. He admired Louis' attentive stance observing everything around them, his eyes blown wide with the alcohol buzzing through his veins. 

Dancing bodies, sweaty and clammy as they moved against each other. Music roared under their skin and bounced off the walls with electric vibrations gushing around. It pooled in their ears and made it ring, the rhythmic beat of fresh sounds and bass. 

Louis downed the rest of his drink and swirled the toothpick inside it while he watched others around them. He caught Edward staring at him and when he leaned back against Harry's chest that was far more comfortable than any couch cushion, he winked. The man responded with a bemused smirk and shook his head.

Their night went on to the latest possible hours and became one of their most strangest escapades. Harry had gone to the bar for two seconds and been convinced by some tacky stranger to have a temporary tattoo of giant wings drawn on his back. They were silver and actually quite skilfully drawn, which Louis admired greatly.

"What's the point of this?!" He shouted at his newly wed husband over the music and other shouts.

Harry's teeth shimmered three different colours when he grinned unabashedly, tossing back one more shot. "I saw no harm in it, petal."

Edward did not reprimand his brother nor did he question the intention he deduced from wanting it. He smirked around the rim of his beer bottle and drummed his fingers on Louis' caress-worthy hip. His brother was shirtless now and the paint on his back crusted to an uncomfortable state, traces of it ending up under Louis' nails when they danced amongst others with Louis' hands on his back.

Harry had all but publicly molested Louis' body, taking advantage of every angle and glimpse of darkness to grope his lover and kiss him senseless. The flickering lights were their stars and Harry's arms were steel cages of possessiveness. Louis moved no further than he was allowed and tossed his head back to gain access for Harry to mark up his neck.

Edward went to refresh their drinks while Louis led Harry back to their table and his awaiting shirt. On his way there however he caught sight of the most distasteful scene yet and it had him making a beeline forward. A young girl, pretty or not, did not respect the boundaries that came with Edward's tattoo around his ring finger and Louis had to make an appearance to chase her away.

Indulgent of Louis' jealousy, Edward admired this beauty's strength when it came to ensuring their little trio was intact. The female's attention was discarded as soon as Louis pulled Edward's lips down to his own and engaged him _otherwise._

"I cannot lie and say I never thought you to be the jealous type." Edward later panted into Louis' neck, their presence in the deteriorated restroom undetected. 

He blindly searching for the mark he earthed onto the supple skin as Louis got up from kneeling and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He was the epitome of sin, the embodiment of temptation.

"You always get to say I'm yours." Louis curled his fingers around the lapels of Edward's coat and smothered the man's smirk with an age-defying kiss. "I want to return the favour."

Their vows came later and impromptu when they lay in bed for a second time, but morning was on the horizon and Harry shut the curtains in his absolutely bare state. The remainder of the night was spent making love as it was their wedding night and none of them wanted to break tradition. Maybe Louis felt high off the champagne and induced hormones running rampant through him from all the sex, but he felt so much _more_ when their bodies fell into bed together. More than just their skin was naked.

"I don't believe in vows." Edward was sharing a cigarette with Harry, the smoke floating above their heads. 

Louis was perched on Harry's lap, sitting upright in their dark room in his heady and bare state. "You're so grouchy I don't even want to ask why."

Edward's dimple deepened in the corner of his grin, though the peek of jagged teeth and a tongue flicking over the sharp tips was nothing charming as it was sinister. Louis leaned over and kissed that frightening look away though he adored it just as much as Harry's smile. 

"Fine." He brushed his fringe out of his eye. "Why don't you believe in vows?"

"Simple, petal." Edward tapped some of the ash into the tray on the night stand. "One should prove themselves rather than recite words they don't have to mean."

"But it's a _vow_." Louis emphasises.

Harry intervenes with his argument. "Yes and how many divorces are there irrespective of vows?"

"I see your point." Louis sits back against Harry's bent, airborne knees and thumbs over the tattoo on his ring finger. There was a promise made to put an actual ring on his finger soon. 

When they got back to Seattle, it was a day later and Louis had to go to work the next day. It was awful planning but he didn't regret a thing. He was _exhausted_ however after staying awake for the flight to play Scrabble with Harry. Falling into their unmade bed, he lazily kicked off his shoes and balled up in the middle of the mattress where he slept soundly for four hours.

"Petal, wake up." At the end of those four hours, Edward was beckoning him back to life. 

Louis mumbled sleepily something incoherent and hid his face. Edward took it one step further to sigh and slowly rub Louis' back where it had to be aching from the position he was in. Louis came into consciousness stubbornly and yawned into his fist before stretching out to the full length of his body.

"Come on, baby. You told me to wake you at seven." Edward ran his hand down the arch of Louis back and the dip at the base of his spine. 

"Is it seven already?" Half Louis' syllables were muffled by the pillows as he tried to hide his face. 

"Yes, petal." Edward kissed his cheekbone. "Petal, my brother needs assistance cleaning the paint off his back and he refuses to let me help him."

Louis perked up at the newest revelation and yawned as he got up, sliding his legs over the edge of the bed and getting Edward's help in standing up. "He really won't let you help?"

"Yes." Edward hums as he follows Louis, the boy rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with a balled fist. 

Harry is pouring himself a glass of water, half from a bottle in the fridge and half from the tap. He never drank either singularly for the sake of saving his teeth the aches and pains that followed. Louis flicked his fringe out of his sight and greeted Harry with a peck to his bulging bicep against the granite counter.

"How's your back?" Louis dealt with the throbbing in his skull by popping an aspirin and sipping Harry's from water without permission.

The response he gets is a wince and roll of Harry's shoulders. His lover slash husband comes to stand between his legs where he's hoisted onto the counter, facing the stove so his back was against Louis' chest.

"That bad?" Louis tugged on the hem of Harry's cotton shirt and pulled it off over his head. "Ouch."

 _Ouch_ was an adequate - yet possibly insufficient - description in exclamation of what was on Harry's back. The usual toned, muscled physique as a product of relentless work-outs and training with blotchy with silver paint and scraped from where it peeled his skin after drying like cement. Louis flinched at the sight and ran his fingertips delicately over the cracking pant, barely touching Harry's skin where it was bruised and cut.

"You poor baby." Louis was not one for mocking but when he wrapped his legs around Harry's waist and studied the damage done, he couldn't help but be a little coy.

Harry pinched Louis' thigh for punishment. "I only need your help, petal."

"Don't be mean to me." Louis' hands found Harry's shoulders and he proceeded to massage the kinks and knots out of the man's pressure points. He knew Harry's body better than the owner. "I told you not to get painted by strangers."

"You did not." Harry scoffed but failed altogether at masking his satisfaction at having Louis' hands on him. 

"It's a given rule." Louis explained, thumbs digging into where Harry's shoulders were a little tight. "Let's go get this paint out then."

**_[A/N: Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas? What about the blend up top? O.o thank you to everyone who's back to read Impulse's sequel. I hope to never disappoint any of you and will try my utmost best to make this book twice as intense as the first one. - S xx]_ **


	4. II.

**_[A/N: Nexter shall rise. - S xx]_ **

Louis' phone rang for the dozenth time, and in his head he imagined it flying off the receiver to break the glass window behind him. He sighed in frustration and pulled on his hair, pulling a professional smile onto his face before picking up.

"Yes, Doris?" He had a personal assistant because he wasn't omnipresent and could not handle all the tasks handed to him by _forty-three_ international companies under the name of the headquarters where he worked.

"Your sister's on the line." Came her normally soothing but at this point in the day, squeaky, voice.

He remembered he had paperwork left to file today by seven thirty in the evening and began shuffling through the mound on his table. "Which one?"

"Phoebe." She replies quickly. "Want me to take a message?"

"No. Put her through." He waited through the beep of their switchboard and the after he located the application form for twelve housing units in the Detroit area, he heard his little sister pick up.

"Louis?" She asked into the speaker as he uncapped his pen with his mouth.

"Hey, Phoebe." His speech was a little muffled due to the object between his teeth. "I'm busy right now, love. What do you need?"

"Dad's having a family dinner and wanted me to invite you." She chirps, unaffected by his stress on the other end. "Tonight."

"Okay." He fills in his name, dates the documents one by one and signs it at the end. 

"You're not paying attention. Pay attention." She sasses him unceremoniously, the snap of her fingers all but audible.

Louis rolls his eyes though he knows his younger sibling cannot see him do it and drops his head onto the desk. "I'll be there, okay?"

"Good. Dad's excited to meet your boyfriends." She giggles knowingly. 

Louis nearly keels over in his seat and gets cut short in his shout for Doris' attention through his gaping office door. He feels his right hand curl around his pen in both riveting tension and extreme worry. His father meeting Edward and Harry? _Together_ and at the same moment in time?

"U-Um." He stutters which is majorly out of character. "I don't know, Phoebe."

"Oh please!" She raises the pitch in her voice and Louis winces from the effect it has on the sensitivity of his ears. "All of us wanna meet them!"

Louis massages his temples as he listens to her enamoured laughter and tries not to smile because he hasn't seen his family in over eight months when he ran into them at Tesco's. This decision to introduce his husbands to his family is going to drive him off a cliff, he can feel it. His father is _not_ going to approve of Edward's sharpened teeth and Harry's madness.

"Really, Phoebe?" He barely contains his whining tone. 

"Yes." She whispers a cheer, knowing her victory is at hand. "Please, please, please Louis."

"Oh alright." He resigns to the whims of his little sister. "Okay, tell Dad I'll be there."

When he hangs up after a short conversation about Phoebe's work at school and a few developments in her hobbies, Louis let's his forehead fall to the stack of papers he's got in front of him. Exasperation leaves laden all his nerves and veins, troubling him about this newest information. How is he to bring home to his father and sisters the men he eloped with? The last time the two parties were in contact was in Middleston amongst the fatal drama of a too dark history to recollect.

Louis' father knew nothing at all about him having married in Vegas, which if he comes to know would blow his top. 

"Doris." He jabs the speaker button on his phoneboard to get a response.

"Yes?" She answers him instantly.

"Come get these papers please and bring them to the boss. I'm taking my break now." He cuts the call and organises his desk just before she walks in, handing over the gathered paper in a neat bunch. 

His break is allocated but one hour for the entire day. Louis grabs his phone and wallet before walking out straight to the elevators, getting into one alone before dialling the first number on his contact list. The lobby is quiet with their business clients filing in and out, some greeting him nods and others unaware of his presence. He walks by three other PA's bustling about trying to please their employers, smiling at the receptionist as he passed her.

The call rang twice and Louis was leaving through the glass door when Edward picked up. "Petal?"

"Hi." He responded, feigning innocence as he slowed his pace to the nearest deli. "I'm on my break."

"I was just about to call you, baby." He hears a door shut and an engine purr as it comes to life. "Your break is late today."

"Yeah." Louis drags out the syllable of the word. "So why were you about to call me?"

The boy behind the counter of this family-owned deli waves at him so as not to disturb Louis' call and signals briefly that he's going to prepare his regular order. Louis takes a seat by the window and puts his head in his hands, elbows set on the table and the start of a headache coming on.

"My brother broke a mug and finished the milk today. I'm about to pay a visit to the supermarket." Edward explains with his evident amusement present in his tone. Harry rarely broke things but when he did it was often because Edward 'bothered' him.

"Why would you need me for that?" Louis asks tiredly, lips pouted and eyes slipping shut.

"Your voice is the finest cure to any injury, petal." Edward knows he'll get a smile from his sweet lover at any difficult time with his praises. He's certain of Louis' blush at the moment, irrespective of not being physically present and their relationship existing over such a long period of time.

"Wait." Louis abruptly realises the meaning of what Edward said. "You're _injured_?"

"Partially." Edward's suave smirk is unrelenting.

Louis fishmouths disbelievingly. "How does someone get _partially_ injured, Edward?"

"Don't be mad, petal." His husband soothes his worry with a chuckle. "Daddy will take care of you when you get home."

Louis weakly smiles at the boy who brings him his sandwich and bottled water. He waits for the server to be gone before replying, pulling loosely on his lip as he covers the smile he reserves for Harry and Edward. Under his blazer was his black _Daddy E_ shirt that was conveniently tucked away and had the inscription hidden.

"Yeah?" He bites the inside of his cheek at Edward's consenting hum. "I look forward to it. Petal's been having a bad day."

"Tell me about it." Edward instructs, no bargain or hesitation. He or Harry always asks Louis to dictate the happenings of his day over late-night television so he can wind down. 

Louis sighs and crosses his legs under the table, picking the lettuce out of his sandwich and nibbling on them separately. "Besides the heaps of paperwork I have waiting for me when I get back, Phoebe called me today."

"Phoebe?" Edward sounds out the foreign name. "Your sister?"

"Yeah." The boy sniffles and curls his fingers around the sleeve's edge of his free hand. "She says Dad is having a family dinner and wants me to be there."

"Alright." Edward deliberates over the proposition. 

"He wants you and Harry there too." Louis finishes off the request, ready to beg. "Edward-"

"No." He gets the simple, monotonous reply. 

"But-"

"Petal, absolutely not. My brother will disagree as well without me influencing him so I suggest you save yourself the time spent asking him." Edward's voice through the speaker was unparalleled to his rejection, one was warm and husky while the latter made Louis groan miserably.

"Don't be mean." Louis mumbled half-heartedly. "He's my father and he wants to meet my husbands no matter how unreasonable they are."

Edward's chuckle that follows makes Louis frustrated. "Unreasonable, petal?"

"Please go to my father's dinner with me." Louis pleads without acknowledging the enquiry.

"Tell you what, baby." Edward starts off his negotiation. "If you get my brother to agree then I'll come."

Louis perks up at the compromise although it really isn't one because Edward always had an ulterior, disguised motive. "You won't persuade him to say no before I can ask?"

"I will not." Edward promises. "Do we have a deal then, petal?"

"We have a deal."

They talk for ten minutes more before Edward is pushed away by Louis to go replace his smashed mug and empty carton of milk. Glancing at the time, the boy realises that he has a little over thirty minutes left of his break and has to make good use of it to be productive. 

He thinks about his strategy for bringing the dinner up with Harry, who is as unpredictable and explosive as a time bomb. His husband could be thrilled with meeting Louis' family or he could go off on a rampage and break more precious china. Louis knows he has to approach the topic carefully and with plenty of buttering-up laid on thick.

As he dials Harry with a shaky breath and picking at his dry lips with his pinched fingertips, Louis remembers that this husband of his is _weak_ for when Louis calls him Daddy. It was a fatal flaw of his whenever Louis became his princess, someone he _simply must_ take care if. Now, if Louis has to manipulate Harry with something outlandish and sexual, then so be it. He can't let Edward win this.

"Louis?" Harry's voice is scratchy and a little disrupted by shuffling that abruptly stops.

Louis clears his throat and drums his fingers on the table surface. "Hi, Daddy. It's me."

Harry would be taken aback if he were new to this but his submissive little husband liked to catch him off guard with this _special endearment_. "You're calling me late today, petal. What happened?"

"Nothing." Louis creates the mental image for Harry of his nail-biting innocence perched on his lap, with such a sultry voice. "I miss you, Daddy."

Harry is far more of an instant gratification man that his older brother. He also loved Louis to no bounds - just like Edward - but his flaw came when he'd literally do _anything_ for the boy. Blindly, he'd fly across a country or slit a throat for his lover.

"I'll come get you, petal." Harry wasn't suggesting it. He was already waking up from the couch and hunting for his keys.

"No, no." Louis knew Harry hadn't heard him when the shuffling and rustling continued. "Daddy, listen to me."

He had Harry's attention shortly after he sighed with a fond roll of his eyes and efforts aimed at not smothering his grin of adoration. However terrifying Harry was when he was upset, the man was half Louis' heart and soul all the time. His big green eyes were harmless on the off-set chance one got to look into them for long enough.

"I'm here, petal." Harry encouraged him to speak, albeit he was reluctant to hear more when he understood his petal was having a bad day.

Louis drew in a deep, brave breath. "I have something to ask you, Daddy. It would mean so much to me if you said yes."

"Okay." Harry's smirk became audible through his words. He was quickly gaining on the game Louis was playing.

"Will you say yes?" Louis asked softly, as the other customer in the deli had left and almost everything he said was in a high enough volume to be heard by strangers.

Harry took a moment before answering. "There are things I'd do for you without an ounce of thought, petal."

Heat rushed up Louis' neck to his blushing cheeks, despite Harry's words being a reality check to realise that he isn't planning on simply agreeing. "I love you."

"I love you too, petal. Always." Harry took the bait and rushed to profess his affection. "Tell me, baby. What do you want permission for?"

"It's not for _permission_." Louis would pout and stick his tongue out at Harry if they were together. "I want you to come with me somewhere."

"Where?" Harry's clipped tone suggests that he already isn't open to the fresh idea, just as Louis feared.

"To my home." Louis regrets the words once they're out even though the blunder isn't serious.

"Your home is here." Keys fall in the background on Harry's end. "With me and Edward."

"I-I didn't mean _home._ I just-" Louis internally groaned. "My father called and said that there will be a family dinner tonight."

"Okay." Harry cautiously replies. "Is that where you want me to go?"

"Yes please." Louis feels the static tension of his hesitation and worry that Harry won't actually say yes.

"What did my brother say?" He instead asks.

Louis winces because this conversation is going downhill. "He said to ask you."

"Hmph." Harry's hum is sceptical. "You can be so devious, sweet petal."

"I'm not devious." Louis defends himself but it's a mumbled response and he knows how unconvincing it is.

"I'd very much like to meet your family, petal." Harry grants mercy to Louis' anticipation. "However I have no _need_ to meet them and if you don't do as asked, baby, then I'll change my mind."

Louis' excitement is short-lived but he's also confident in knowing he can handle most things Harry throws his way. _Most._ "Okay."

Harry knows the stakes are high for this prize and will gamble to such tall standards as well. "You were naughty by calling me with an undisclosed agenda, petal. I have to punish you for that."

 _"Daddy."_ Louis prolonged the word in a witless whine. 

His punishments were all not gruesome and painful thus far. When it was Edward, he would usually not accomplish something for the day that he had to or teased him too often. Harry had higher standards to pass for punishment and he was lighter on the penalties. By Edward, Louis was blindfolded and fucked senseless until he came dry and in pain. Harry chose the opposite and would not touch Louis until he begged, usually on his knees for other motives already.

"I know you don't like punishment, darlin'. You've earned it though." Harry says strictly. "I've adopted a new method of punishment and I think you might like it a little."

 _Only a little?_ Louis stares at the table and his half-eaten lunch food. "What are you going to do?"

Harry shuts down Louis' ability to _breathe_ with his answer to that. "I bought a new toy today. I plan on using it on you until it breaks, baby."

Louis can only choke gracelessly on the air that's trapped in his throat. "W-What?"

All he hears first is manic laughter from his absurd husband. "You want to know what I'm going to do to you, baby?"

"Yes." Louis swallows thickly, not painlessly. "S-So I know whether to come home or not."

"Oh, you're coming home, petal." Harry finds the prospect of Louis _not_ being in their bed tonight an absolutely rubbish thought. "I'm going to fill you up with this new toy. It even has a rubber suction cup at the tip. Then I'll take across my lap and spank that glorious derriere of yours for lying to me.   
"When I finish, that toy will stay inside you for the entirety of your family dinner. After that you will get on your knees and take my c*ck in your pretty little mouth _before_ I bend you over and take advantage of your lovely ass."

Louis felt himself getting hot all over from Harry's heated and uncensored words, suppressing his need to moan by digging the heel of his palm discreetly to the growing bulge in his pants. As much as Harry was biased for his princess, Louis' weakness was when Harry become Daddy and took charge of everything he did.

"I-Is that all?" He tries going for sarcastic but honestly there's no point in pretending he won't catch a cab home from home to experience the bliss now.

"That is plenty, baby." Harry's deviousness never surrenders to Louis opaque arousal. "I think I'll be the one to fetch you this evening."

"O-Okay." Louis wants to protest but he really has no stable choice of argument. If Harry wants to do something, it will be done. "Okay. I look forward to it, Daddy."

"As do I. Now go back to work, baby. I love you."

"I love you." Louis says before he can hang up, which is customary for every phone call with either twin.

  
* * * * *  


"Doris!" Louis shouted from his desk after five in the afternoon when the sky was already darkening but he couldn't care less.

Their entire office block was up in a huff after their deadline for a major international project was shifted closer to the present. Most just left twenty minutes ago and the rest have past out at their desks after caffeine failed them. Louis got up from his station and jogged out to meet his PA. He wasn't in full attire still anyway, his shoes discarded somewhere and blazer strewn across his chair.

"Did you hand those papers in today?" He asks her as he notices that she's packing up to go.

"Sure did." She unattaches a note from her computer and hands it to him. "Your sister called again and said to bring attire appropriate for swimming."

Louis thanked here with an eye-roll and tucked the note into his back pocket for attention later. He ran to the copying room and took care of his filing, hearing but ignoring his stomach growls until it was ten fifteen minutes later.

"Goodnight, Lou." His boss was leaving as everyone got their input through to him and he's finally handed it over to the incorporation they answer to. 

"Goodnight." He weakly replies from his desk where his head was buried between his folded arms.

The lights were all switched off except for the ones that will mark his way to the elevator so he didn't break anything or get lost. He had an hour to get home and get ready before Phoebe's terror rained down on him because he didn't show to their family dinner party. Just the thought of waking up when he was this exhausted nauseated him.

A knock on his door had him jolting awake and thereafter groaning from the silhouette at his door. It wasn't an unpleasant groan either, more of a _reminder_. 

Harry's form blocked majority of the light filtering in through from the hallway, his coat flicked upward at the collar and smirk undeniable even under such poor lighting conditions. His narrowed eyes, soulful and dark, darted around the room as he stepped into it and whistled in an impressed manner.

"You work hard, petal." He comes to where Louis is seated and leans across the table's surface. "Daddy is proud."

Louis smiles tentatively against Harry's lips and secures both sides of his face to hold him close. He pecks the man's lips twice. "Hi, Daddy. I'm exhausted."

"Is that supposed to mean something, petal?" Harry chuckles as he comes around Louis' desk and gets him on his feet. 

When Louis leans into his chest and nuzzles the warmth at his neck, Harry kisses his forehead. Louis' hands creep up to Harry's shoulderblades and he steps onto the tops of his expensive boots in just his socks, adding to his height.

"Maybe." Louis coyly answers. He deeply inhales the heady scent of Harry's cologne and shampoo, the man's hair still damp and clothes fresh from laundry. 

Harry hums in a way that passes vibrations through their constricting chests and massages the base of Louis' spine with nimble fingers. "Tough luck, petal. We have limited time so get your things together and we'll leave."

Louis is pouting when he pulls away and Harry fails in kissing it away. He resorts to patting Louis' pert bottom through his jeans and ushering him along to hurry up. Harry watches his boy get his jacket and yawn as he hunts for his shoes, finally finding it under the couch tucked into the corner of his office.

"My sister told me to bring swimwear." Louis casually brings it up as he pulls his shoes on. "I forgot that the new house has a pool."

Mark had sold the luxurious apartment they all lived in before Louis moved to Middleston and purchased a grand home with a pool, hot tub and much too large garden. It was extravagant but the girls loved it and Mark worked from home now so Louis never commented on it.

"I suppose you want me to get into the water with you." Harry quirks an eyebrow at his husband as Louis comes to take his hand. 

"Definitely." Louis refrains from going with his regular uncertain answer. "You know Edward will never do it so I won't bother asking."

"He might just." Harry opposes the opinion. "Edward used to love swimming."

Louis grapples at this previously unveiled information. "How can I not know that?"

Harry laughed loudly enough for it to echo and pulled Louis towards the elevators, stepping in silently and jabbing the ground floor button. "He hardly says anything about what he used to like. You'll learn, petal."

"I've known you and him for two years." Louis points out. "It's a bit late for learning."

"Never, petal." Harry disagreed, holding the lobby door open for Louis first to step out into the drizzle gracing their streets. 

Louis sighs at the nearly barren business district, flicking his fringe aside and letting Harry open his passenger side door for him. After Harry acquired his driving licence, his first step of celebration was to put a down payment on the most recent in the Jeep line. The vehicle was a monster and Louis hated that his height disadvantage made him want a ladder to climb in.

Harry easily slid in beside him and turned the heater on to keep the temperature toasty inside. Louis dumped his satchel in the back and adjusted his reclining position of his seat. 

"Since you called me earlier today-" Harry pulls out of his parking spot effortlessly and into the traffic at a red light. "-I'd decided that we can't go to this dinner of yours empty-handed."

"Damn." Louis mutters a curse. He won't have time to cook when he gets home. "We can stop for a bottle of wine?"

"I cooked, petal." Harry takes Louis' hand over the console and kisses each knuckle. "Edward bought the wine."

Louis cracks an eye open to ogle his husband before surging forward and connecting their lips, a hard press of sweet taste. "I knew I had a good reason for loving you two."

Harry bites Louis' upper lip and kisses him one more time for assurance. "I believe that, baby."

They find the streets slightly empty for a week night and drive home without more than two stops at junctions. Louis takes his phone out with a dying battery and texts Edward to say that they're on their way back. He stretches his arms and legs to remain awake and is glad when they finally pull into their apartment complex.

Harry parks the Jeep out front because they're going to be leaving in it soon, and practically chases Louis to the front steps. Just as the boy is about to tackle the staircase of three steep steps, Harry stops him.

He slips his arms around his petite husband and picks him up off the ground swiftly, cutting off his gasp and squeal of confusion with a gentle squeeze around his hips. "I think my petal has been on his feet for too long."

Louis doesn't argue and wraps himself around Harry to dramatis. He unlocks the main entrance with their pass code and gets carried to the elevators, then let's his head fall back when they're alone in one. "Do we even _have_ swimwear?"

"Yes, petal." Harry's boots click against the cold tile as he exits the elevator and makes his way down the hallway to their apartment. "Did Edward not go shopping with you a week ago?"

"Oh yeah." Louis vaguely recalls trying to get choices made in changing rooms with a handsy Edward and no means of saving himself. "That was a weird day."

Harry slotted their key into the lock and pushed open the door ahead of them, the brightness of their home filtering through his adjusting eyesight. "Because you asked my brother to fuck you in a changing room?"

"I didn't _ask_." Louis hisses in disapproval, finally squirming to get free of this brute of a man.

Edward appeared from the bedroom in just suit pants and a leather belt, his upper half completely bare for all to behold the delicious sight of his toned abdomen and tattooed chest. "You begged, baby."

Louis licked his lips and forced himself to pry his lustful eyes away from the blessing of Edward's half naked body. He scowled at the man's response and got put down on his own feet just then. "I don't beg."

Both brothers found his argument null and void, laughing at it openly as he kicked his shoes off and checked the time. Louis ignored their rudeness and slipped into the bedroom, immediately stripping off his clothing piece by piece on his way to the bathroom. His shower is what took a chunk out of his time as he washed his hair and scrubbed his body, towards the end being disrupted by a second individual stepping in next to him.

"Can I help you?" His shower helped him to feel more refreshed and that came with a healthy dosage of sass. 

The dark hair and blistering green eyes signified Harry. First he wiped the water off his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. He closed in on Louis with an arm hoisted against the wall, pinning the boy against it and clasping his bare hip. 

"Did I offend you earlier, petal?" Harry distractingly rubbed the curve of Louis' fine behind, angling his head forward and smirking as Louis' cheeks turned pink. 

Their damp faces were less than an inch apart, separate identities yet one true person. Louis' breath mingled with Harry's and their lips brushed often, his palms finding their purchase on Harry's shoulders. The water flowed around their feet but the spray was directed elsewhere, leaving them to feel cold.

He didn't have time to play a game but he decided to anyway. "You were mean, Daddy."

Harry guffaws at his lovely better half, caressing where his palm would on Louis' sides. The curves there were delicate and sinful, Harry wanted to have his mouth on them all the time. Instead, time-wasting occupations like _work_ and _leaving their home_ had his dream shattered.

"I'm never mean to you, baby." Harry lifted his head and kissed all along the side of Louis' face, hearing him giggle and alight with humour. "You're my good boy."

Louis arms, dripping with cold water from his abandoned shower, reached up and locked in a vice-like grip around Harry's neck. He was clean and smelt of his favourite vanilla body gel, sighing in an exceptionally content way when Harry found reason to cup and tease the globes of his firm bottom.

"How are you feeling?" Harry petted over his lower back to the backs of his thighs. "Still tired?"

"Not as much." Louis answers, eyes wider awake and more replenished energy in his possession. "Any particular reason you're asking?"

Harry's lips twitch at the corners and he smirks the way the devil would when he has his most precious prize in his arms. Louis gasps, scandalized when his spouse lowers both palms to pry his cheeks apart so his hole is exposed to the steamy air circling them.

"Hmm." Harry's transfixed hum makes Louis' skin break out in goosebumps and his breath to stutter. He teases the puckered and clenching skin of Louis' entrance in small strokes, latching onto Louis' neck and sucking a new bruise into it. "I can't wait for when we're alone later."

"Not alone." Louis corrects him with a smug smile tugging on his lips. "I won't leave Edward out."

"How considerate of you, petal." Harry laughs and shuts off the water to drag Louis out of the shower, not stopping to wrap him up in a towel. "You know my brother likes to watch."

How could he forget? Louis is dumped onto their majestic bed structure and has his legs pulled apart by his ankles. He props himself up on his elbows, the sheets amongst and under him getting damper with the water rolling off his bare body.

The room is already dark and Louis' gaze is downright salacious, watching Harry get between his thighs by force and hoist them up on his hips. Harry runs his calloused fingers across the warm, flushed skin and pinches him near his behind. It comes as an absolute surprise when Harry flips him over without a warning and bends over to drag the tip of his tongue over Louis' racing pulse.

His fingers curled into the silk sheets and Louis sucked in a sharp breath. Neither act tamed the arousal licking at the innards of his veins, twisting in his guts and making him feel like the only reason he's _alive_ is because Harry's hands are on him.

"Petal must have done something very wrong for you to be doing this twenty minutes before we have to leave." Edward makes himself known on his trip in from the living room, heading for closet.

He does make a stop at the bed where Louis is battling to _breathe_ , leaning in close and planting his lips on the quivering boy's neck. He made a mark on that beautiful expanse of skin and worshipped the scar every day, no exceptions. 

"Be gentle with him for now." Louis hears the wet smack of a kiss behind him when Edward withdraws. "I don't want other people looking his way for longer than necessary because he's waddling instead of walking."

Louis almost loses consciousness at the way Edward speaks without a filter, in the most crude manner regarding him when he's right there. It also made his skin flush and something _deep_ in the pit of his abdomen come alive. 

Unable to see anything over his shoulder, Louis can only rely on Harry to guide him through the darkness. He gets up on his hands and knees when the man coaxes him, pulling his hips back and ass up into the air. Exposed and vulnerable as he was, Louis' never felt safer and less anxious in his life because of the trust he put in Harry.

Warmth and wetness touched him right over his hole, making him gasp and whimper. His nails scraped the sheets as the liquid substance was rubbed over him without penetration, pulling the softest moans from his swollen lips. Louis felt the pad of Harry's thumb circling his rim, massaging and indelicately pressuring his muscle. 

"Daddy." Louis whined, unable to help it. He arches his back in a lascivious curve and dictates Harry's speed of motion with his tempting body.

"Don't test me, petal." Harry's voice was deeper than usual, his lust and raw want making the tone that much more raspy. "It's hard enough already not to hold you down and fuck those sounds out of you."

Another moan, high-pitched and desperate. His length was hardening and Louis tried to stop it, failing miserably. He fell forward when Harry knocked him off his balance and didn't care for whether he could breathe or not. A finger delved into him, a second appendage following shortly after.

The stretch lit Louis' senses on fire as his walls clenched around Harry and the blood rushed from every other part of him to his most private regions. It was such a sensational feeling to be overpowered and dominated, his will stripped from him so that Harry can have his way with his body. Louis choked on the saliva building in his mouth, the air trapped in his lungs. He wanted Harry inside him, taking him apart but that obviously wasn't the plan.

"Good boy." Harry praised whenever Louis resisted keeping quiet and always rolled back onto his hand pumping in and out of him. "Good boy, petal. Give your body to me, baby."

Harry pulled out and Louis felt empty. Instead of the hot bulbous tip of Harry's c*ck as Louis expected - in fact _prayed for_ \- something cold and stiff as plastic pressed itself to his hole. Louis shivered and his skin displayed a sheen of sweat, his own length neglected and weeping pitifully onto the sheets.

"Shh." Harry knew the girth of the toy was large for the little prep he gave Louis. "Relax, petal."

Louis started breathing in ragged pants at intervals of broken inhales, lungs labouring to take in air. He whimpered from the burning stretch in his behind, his rim expanding too much to be comfortable. Inch by inch, Harry forced it past the tight muscular entrance and into his lover's body. His head got tossed back when the object was fully seated, the base of the plug flat against his hole. It was _deep_ with a narrow tip and wide as a knot base.

"Alright, baby." Harry had pity for his lovely petal and helped him get situated across his lap. The boy doesn't resist his notions, and starts panting in short intakes and exhales when Harry's had glides over his ass.

Louis gulps down the lump in his throat and digs his clenched fists into the bunched up sheets, arching his back to roll his hips backward and tempt Harry greatly. His lover slash husband runs his hand over Louis' back from his shoulders to his thighs, paying particular attention to the delectable curve that comes in between.

"Such a sweet body, petal." Harry litters kisses up the curve of Louis' spine, one on each knob. "Answer me, baby. How are you feeling?"

"G-Good." Louis stammers because he isn't lying and the grinds his neglected manhood into Harry's thigh, getting five nails raked down the side of his thigh as a penalty. " _Daddy._ It f-feels so nice, Daddy."

Harry kissed Louis' shoulderblade and glosses over one cheek of Louis' behind before lifting his hand off the smooth skin. Louis' whole bodybody jerks and he whines in a high pitch when Harry's palm comes down on the right cheek. Those dexterous and cold fingers massage his firm, stinging skin. Short of a moment's breath, Harry spanks his left cheek and Louis cries out. 

"Daddy!" Louis shouts and grabs onto Harry's wrist where it was near his arm. 

"Be quiet, petal." Harry's fingers slip past the barrier of Louis' lips and bear down on his tongue, silencing the fidgety boy by deepening the depth of his fingers in Louis' mouth. 

Louis gagged and choked, sputtering when he grabbed onto Harry's wrist and sealed his lips around the man's two fingers. He suckles sloppily on the appendages and scratches Harry's forearm when he's spanked thrice more, firm and _hard_. 

To complete the procession, Harry gripped the base of his new toy and pulled a little to hear Louis hiss before releasing it. Louis felt a tight suction inside him, a small sensation on his prostate but powerful nonetheless. He wasn't going to survive tonight without coming in his pants. Every movement, small or significant, tugged on the plug and besides it shifting against his insufficiently lubed walls the sucker at the tip was firmly planted on his sweet spot.

"Feel full, petal?" Harry tortured him with his words, turning Louis onto his back and looming above him with predatorial prowess. 

Louis could only swallow thickly with his eyes screwed shut and mewl when Harry suckled on the skin above his Adam's Apple. He was stuffed to the brim with his toy, unable to lower his knees without risking an orgasm.

"T-Too full." He panted raggedly, pushing Harry down by his shoulders to encourage extracting the girthy toy.

"Feel like you might come?" Harry's fingers danced across the planes of Louis' supple tummy, pinching his pudge and kissing it afterwards. "We can't have that now, petal."

Suddenly Louis feels Harry withdrawing and without that presence of another body to conceal his bare state, he tugs weakly on the comforter to hide himself. 

"Let me see, darlin'." The voice he comprehends is Edward's and he quickly peels off the sheet to leave himself bare. His eyes remain shut. 

Fingers brush over the toy plugging him up, leaving him a headspace that's aroused and lost. He opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling, voice too thick for words.

"You look sore already, baby." Edward was not ashamed where he was kneeling between Louis' thighs to pepper gentle pecks all around the toy. "Does it hurt?"

"No." Louis answered, made himself answer. Edward extended an arm towards him and helped Louis up onto his feet. 

"Good because I like this idea quite a bit." Edward made a rotation with his finger, indicating that Louis must do the same. 

Louis wasn't dizzy or nauseous anymore. Being on his feet was a little better than being pinned and helpless. He twirled for Edward and stopped when Harry reappeared from the closet. Edward let go of his hips and kissed his neck with an open mouth and sharp teeth grazing his skin.

Harry's signature smirk grew dimpled and he dropped to his knees as soon as Louis was the only thing in his sight. He first took time to secure Louis' waist and kiss him all over the available skin to him. From the boy's torso down to his belly button where he dipped his tongue and tasted the nude skin.

Louis felt distracted of the pain in his behind by threading his fingers through Harry's curls and pulling himself closer. He threw his head back between his shoulderblades and let his jaw fall slack, his body jerking forward. Harry's mouth was sin and Harry's mouth on his body was _divine_.

His fingernails massage Harry's scalp, the pleasure that the man offered him being multiple steps above merely intoxicating to his hormones. He felt the wet drag of Harry's tongue over the protruding bone of his hip, teeth pinching the thin skin and marking it up with bruises. 

"Feel better, baby?" Harry pulled off his body and admired the wet streaks left behind. "Too full?"

Louis can safely say he feels better now and well preoccupied with knowing that Harry never intended to harm him, only discipline him. He draws more steady breath now, and let's Harry sit back on his haunches to reveal something else. It's a circle made of cold rubber and is painted a light pink colour.

"What's that?" Louis enquires quietly, eyes soft and biting his bottom lip in trepidation.

"A c*ck ring, petal." Harry answers, toying with the object until he's ready to put it on Louis. 

Harry grabs hold of Louis' semi erection and hears him whine, placing the steel ring around the base behind Louis' sack. He felt Louis start to squirm and fidget, standing up quickly to stabilise him.

"Shh." Harry wrapped his arms around Louis' shoulders and forcing his neck back to press their lips together. "I know it's uncomfortable, baby. You'll do it for me, petal?"

Louis would do absolutely anything for Harry and now looking into those sinister eyes that adore him so much, nothing has changed. "Yes, Daddy."

**_[A/N: PLEASE READ. I'd like to thank everyone that's been supporting me and those who have informed me when people repost/steal from my stories. It's not a good habit to rat on others but so is being dishonest. I'm pleading with you guys, please DO NOT STEAL MY IDEAS. There's no single word or selection of words to properly describe how indecent and unfair that is. Writers work hard to try perfecting their pieces and for someone to feel they have the self-appointed right to borrow ideas is disgusting. I hate to be this way but truly, it's intolerable. Please try to come up with your own ideas and I promise it will far more worthwhile. - S xx]_ **


	5. III.

**_[A/N: Anyone else that has a favourite dinosaur? - S xx]_ **

_You'd rather burn than kneel, a great hero. Until winter comes._

Louis was fidgety in his clothing to say the least. He wore a black sweater with a thick white stripe across his middle, black jeans that clung to his legs on the way down and a pair of well-kept Vans. It was cold outside and the rain had just ceased from the skies.

Edward had thrown a bag onto their bed after Louis informed him of the swimwear development. The pool at his father's house was indoors and heated so the weather wouldn't deter their plans. Louis joined the man in packing a bag for their change of clothes in the closet, trying his utmost best not to complain about the condition he was in.

The plug inside him could be felt with every step he made and every breath he took, thankfully his sweater was big enough to conceal his semi. His need to come was enough to turn his skin beneath the collar overheated and desperate, never once did a noise _not_ tumble from his lips.

Edward and the devious demon that resided in his mind watched his suffer without a word to help. He did however, pinch Louis' behind when the boy was reaching for something on a top shelf.

"You're not helping." Louis remarks with a glower, folding the swim trunks he found with turtle thumbnails on it. 

"I never intended to help, petal." Edward replies, taking the shorts from him and tucking it into the bag.

Louis' outraged little gasp made him ignore Edward's chuckle and storm off in the direction of their closet. His husband was two steps ahead and grabbed him by his wrist, pulling him back. Their bedroom settled into dismissive silence and Edward bundled Louis up in his arms, ducking down in the absence of light to nibble on his throat.

"I'm sorry, baby." Edward soothed the ache in Louis' back with a brief kneading. 

He brought his lips to the boy's stubborn mouth and sealed over it, prying Louis' lips apart and plunging into the warmth with his tongue. Louis tasted like toothpaste and alcohol from their mouthwash, Edward breathed heavily through his nose and conflicted Louis' symptoms of reluctance with a battle of their tongues. The man tilted his head to the side and deepened their kiss, noises following their pursuit as Louis fisted the front of his shirt.

Kissing Edward was like tasting the majesty of the sun, moon and stars all at once. It had inexplicable connotations of fulfilment and Louis would go raving mad if he couldn't have a dose every day.

When they withdrew from one another, a gossamer thin string of saliva connected their lips. Edward's formidable teeth made an appearance and he ran his tongue over his lips, making Louis blush. 

"My sweet petal." Edward frames Louis' beautiful face delicately in his palms and bumps their noses together. "Sometimes even I cannot release you from your punishment."

Louis understood that and leaned up on the tiptoes of his shoes, pecking Harry's lips and broadening his smile. Razor sharp teeth made an appearance and Louis grinned at the sight. He was possibly out of his mind for loving Edward's teeth the way they were, filed down to a pointed tip. He often woke up as early as Edward to yank him back into bed, wrap a leg around his waist and spent the morning making out with his husband like it was against the rules but they were outlaws.

"I meant to ask you something although I already feel like I know your answer." Louis lowers the volume of his voice when he says this, electric blue eyes connecting with Edward's.

"Tell me then." Edward rubbed odd shapes into Louis' hips. "What do you have to ask me?"

"Well-" Louis nuzzles Edward's neck and kisses his jaw, keeping his words branded into that artful bone. "-there's a pool at my Dad's house and I want you to come swim with me."

Edward actually took a moment to himself, impassive all the while until the end when his face broke out into a brilliant smile and hoarse laughter that used to run chills down his spine. "What did you think would be my answer to that, petal?"

Louis' bottom lip is jutting out in a pout but when he tried to release himself from Edward's arms he was only secured far more severely. He huffed petulantly when Edward growled and fastened his wrists behind his back, those dagger teeth suddenly at his neck with quick nips and bold bites. Louis shivered from such rough treatment and moaned from how it made his bulge twitch in his pants, not growing anymore because of a painful restriction.

"I thought you'd say no." Louis gushed in one exhale. "Aren't you going to say no?"

"Of course I am, darlin'." Edward is amused by the boy's entire confession. "I will dine with your family and tolerate your sisters but-"

" _But_ you won't go swimming with me?" Louis teases him with a twirl to the near silver curls framing Edward's face. 

"I'm not unreasonable, petal." Edward pats Louis' bum and sacrifices the union of their bodies to not waste anymore time. "Get going now."

Louis makes sure to roll his eyes at his eccentric husband and prepare himself for walking. Being still all this time has helped him forget that there is an unforgiving object filling him up and rubbing against his sensitised walls on every movement. He goes into the kitchen with minimal wincing and found Harry wrapping up the dishes he prepared earlier in cling-wrap and slotting them into an insulated bag.

"I never asked what you made for dinner." Louis clears his throat with his hands hidden in his sleeves and lip prisoner to his molars.

Harry notices him with smug anticipation, one side of his smile curled upward into his dimple. "Lasagne and garlic bread, petal."

Louis acknowledges the menu recited with a hum. "What about the wine?"

"It's _Domaine de la Romanee_." Harry answers smoothly, zipping up the bag.

The man was in his less than _ordinary_ sheer black shirt that's transparent at the front with giant red roses sewn into the material at the front. His suit jacket covered the nudity of his clothing enough at the front and Louis could swoon at how _dapper_ he looked in formal wear. 

"Woah." Louis eyes the tall bottle on the counter. "That's expensive and _old_."

"It certainly is." Harry winked at him before swiping his phone and keys off the counter. 

Louis' phone rang at that moment and he refrained from sliding onto a bar stool to take the call. Harry smirked at him - the smug bastard - and threw his keys at Edward when the latter appeared from the bedroom carrying their overnight bag.

"Hello?" Louis answered sheepishly, recognising his father's number on the screen.

"Louis?" Mark's gruff voice carried through their connection. "Where are you?"

"We're leaving now." Louis had his eyes on the ground but had his hand locked with Edward's on the way to the door. "Sorry we're late."

"No, no. I just wanted to make sure you were still coming." Mark explains. His experiences with his eldest child has led him to being paranoid. "Are you bringing....-"

Louis smiles knowingly when his father trails off. "Yes, Dad. You promise to be okay with it?"

He heard Mark smile. "I'll do my best, son."

"I'm glad." Louis mirrored the smile on his side once in the silent elevator. "Is everyone else there already?"

"Yeah." Mark clears his throat, pulling away from the speaker momentarily. "Charlotte's fiance is here too."

"Fiance?" Louis frowns. He was _not_ aware of his sister's engagement at all. "Since when is she engaged?"

"I didn't know either until tonight." Mark sighs, sounding more annoyed than tired. "Her choice of man is really....questionable."

"He's that frustrating, huh?" Louis walks out onto the sidewalk and opens his own door before either twin can do it for him. The food and wine are slid in next to him while he finds a comfortable position. 

"Most obnoxious weasel I've ever met." Mark never exaggerates so this guy must really be awful. "I trust you haven't let me down either."

Louis winces more from Mark's resounding sentence than the pressure on his bottom that's pushing the plug further into him. Mark doesn't know he's _married_ and tonight was going to be the night - after almost a year - to tell him. "I'll try, Dad. See you soon, alright?"

"Okay. Drive safe." Mark hangs up and Louis feels the Jeep coming to a stop at an intersection.

He hands his phone over to Harry in the front for keeping. "I just realised that we didn't tell my Dad about Vegas yet."

Edward accelerates forward with swift glances at all three rear-view mirrors. "We'll tell him tonight, petal."

"Do you think he'll be upset?" Louis anxiously chews on his upper lip. "He might be."

"If he is or is not, let it be." Harry answers. "He can't do anything about it."

Louis supposes that is true but still. Mark is his father who deserved to know more than his angry best friend. He's a lousy son for not bringing it up.

Harry's GPS in the Jeep guides them through the quickest route to Mark's gigantic home at the city's edge. They pull up to the iron gates and Edward presses the intercom to be let in, gliding smoothly over the stone driveway to a parking spot beside one red Porsche and silver Benz.

Louis hops down - not for lack of meaning for that word - and takes the wine while Harry takes the food. He straightens the man's jacket but buttoning one or two tabs on his expensive suit jacket. Edward had impeccable attire and manner of carrying himself when it came down to it. His suit was just as pitch black as Harry's but his dress shirt was a pin-stripe navy. 

The front door opened for them before they reached midway up the front steps and Louis' father appeared through it. With a deep breath, Louis rubbed his guilt-ridden clammy palms on his pants and smiled brightly at his old man.

"Hi Dad." He greeted Mark with a hug and noted that his father's become more grey yet less bald, his white dress shirt over no pot-belly and shiny shoes all indicating his professional manner.

"Lou." Mark embraced his first-born though Louis certainly no longer resembled a baby and smiled. "You got here fast if you left when I called you."

"Yeah. Traffic was great." Louis held his breath when two familiar others came to a stop behind him. "Dad, this is Edward and Harry Styles."

Edward calmly reached out and shook Mark's hand, followed by Harry just after. Mark smiled but he was reserved and definitely apprehensive. "I remember them, son. Don't worry."

Louis felt two fingers curl around his belt loop. "I had a whole speech ready, Dad."

Mark laughed a little and let them step in ahead of him. "You can say your speech for your sisters. They're in the living room."

Nodding, Louis took Edward's hand because Harry already had a hold on him. "We brought wine and Harry made fancy food."

The air was thickening miserably and Louis was becoming more and more terrified about Mark noticing the ring on his finger. He didn't want to disappoint his father. Mark said nothing about it however and accepted the wine peacefully.

"That was kind of you, Harry." Mark told the man directly and Louis hadn't heard a verbal response from Harry himself. 

Louis parted ways with his father when Mark said he's going into kitchen and blew out a loud breath of relief. He spun around with tension building in his nerves and prepared to brief his husbands on meeting a family as emotionally detached from one another as his.

"You're sweating, petal." Edward thumbed over the dampness rooting from Louis' hairline. "Don't be nervous about anything, baby."

Harry found purchase for both hands on Louis' hips, his fingers holding onto his belt loops or pockets. Louis relaxed against him and thanked whoever was smiling down at him from the Heavens for letting him forget about the toy bottomed out inside him. 

"I'll introduce you to my family and go speak my Dad." Louis ignores their concern for the first time and recites his plan. "I _need_ to tell him."

"Alright." Edward cradles the back of Louis' head and calms him down with a firm kiss on his temple. "Be quick about it, petal. I don't want to be left alone with people I won't understand."

Louis laughed at that, eyes crinkling and stress lightening. He takes a deep breath and pulls free of Edward's embrace to show them to the lounge where noise from a television and loud chatter arrived from. The waxed tile on the floors were sparkling and a lovely cream colour that reflected the fairy lights above their heads. 

The brightness had been dimmed in their living room where a home bar fully armed with every alcoholic beverage possible was situated, the largest flatscreen anyone ever saw hoisted up on the wall. Three couches sat arranged in front of the TV, quilts over the backs and cushions strewn across their seats. 

"Louis!" A feminine voice squealed and before he could gather his wits about him, a body smaller than his was plastered to his front in a hug. 

"Hi, Phoebe." He laughed fondly and hugged his sister back, a hand on her back and the other breaking free of Edward.

Three other individuals were present and all turned their heads when Phoebe tore across the room. Charlotte was suffocatingly pleasant and formal as always, even in her uptight smile and neat hair cascading over her shoulders in her silk blouse. Beside her was a man carrying a glass of Scotch, his unappealing nature of a square jaw and judgmental eyes putting everything into perspective.

"Hey, Lou." Felicite, his humbling sister was more similar to him from all his siblings. She hugged him around his shoulders and pulled Phoebe off him. 

"Hey." He kissed her cheek and glanced over at Charlotte. "Don't I get a hug?"

Charlotte's reaction was to smile in a way he recognised from their childhood, but that all melted away when Mr. Obnoxious blocked her from his view. Louis didn't get that hug.

"Well then-" He chose to ignore such unpleasantness this early in the night and stepped back to now victimise his husbands. "-I'd like you all to meet Edward and Harry. This is Phoebe, my little sister. Felicite, my even smaller sister; and Charlotte."

Maybe there was a cloud looming over their heads when they walked in and the meeting between his husbands and his family could go either way, but now all had settled. Edward was the one to nod formally with nothing more than a stoic smile. Harry had his hands buried in the pockets of his suit pants, smiling more broadly but something about it made it less settling. Louis, for the length of a _heartbeat_ , sees them the way he met them with no emotion and blood on their hands.

"Are they your boyfriends?" Phoebe asks sans a brain to mouth filter, making Charlotte laugh and Felicite blush. 

Louis pushed his hair back with his fingers and smiled sweetly. "Yes, love. They are."

Phoebe nods and hides behind Felicite's leg. The new men that her brother brought into their home were scary and she had to warm up to them before initiating a conversation. They looked to her like they had a lot of secrets. 

"You have a ring on your finger." The unknown man who Louis hopes remains unnamed addresses him directly, his voice deep and less than soothing. 

Charlotte looks between her brother and her fiance. She says nothing and sips from the champagne glass in her hand. The infuriating figure of a man walks towards them and Louis can _feel_ Harry and Edward's testosterone levels spike with each step he takes.

"Miles Peterson." The stranger holds his hand out and Louis has no choice but to shake it. "From Peterson and Co."

Louis nods politely though he doesn't have a clue what on Earth that means. Miles has wavy black hair and the brownest eyes he's ever seen. Everything about him screamed unsettling. Miles shook Edward's hand but before Harry's turn came, the second twin leaned down to hook his chin over Louis' shoulder and kiss his spouse's neck. He ignored Miles completely which made Phoebe snicker in the back.

"I'm going to see my Dad in the kitchen." Louis informs everyone when the awkwardness reaches extraordinary heights. He turns around with a bemused, knowing gaze. Quickly, he pecks Harry's cheek and then Edward's. "I'll be right back."

He continually tries to control his heartbeat and breathing on his trip to the kitchen. Mark is alone in there working on the roast chicken in the oven. Louis' shoes are silent and it enables him to sneak up on his father before successfully surprising him. His father is so lonely sometimes it makes Louis tremble with self-hatred. Mark is the last person he knows who deserves to be alone.

Louis wraps his arms around Mark's neck and squeezes without harm done, controlling any emotions threatening to crawl up his throat. "Hi again."

"Hey, son." Mark's laugh is the one he got to keep in reserve for the four years he had alone with Louis before the first daughter was born. "Where did you leave your husbands?"

"What?" Louis releases his father and falls back against the counter, distraught that he offended his father when he thought he hadn't.

"Don't stress on it, slugger." Mark used his fond nickname for Louis and ruffled his hair before Louis pouted and set it back. "I'm your father and you think I don't know what's new when I look at you?"

Louis chews his lip hatefully. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, son." Mark rolls his eyes, an exact replica of when Louis does it. "I wish you'd told me, yes, but I'm not angry."

"Great." Louis beams and gingerly hoists himself up onto the counter, fidgeting a lot until he can finally settle. He steals a bowl of grapes and picks a few off. "So do you need any help?"

"Our housekeeper took care of everything but I didn't want her here when you guys got here." Mark explains, shutting the oven door and picking up the bottle of wine Edward bought. "This is the most expensive wine we've had in this house."

Louis blushes deeply and pops a grape in his mouth. "Edward picked it up."

"I thought I noticed something about that one." Mark pours two glasses of milk in two wine glasses for them both. It's an old tradition. "What's up with his mouth?"

"Dad!" Louis cries in outrage, tossing a dish towel in his father's direction so it land squarely across his face. 

"What?" Mark leans against the pillar to Louis' left. He sips from his glass nonchalantly and drapes the offending dish towel over his shoulder. 

"You can't just ask me things like that." His son replies after downing half his glass of milk. "Remember when I broke all your wine glasses?"

"Of course I do." Mark scoffs at the reminder. "It was the most expensive thing we owned at that time."

"But you still loved me." Louis rests his elbow on his father's strong shoulder and ascertains a metaphor from it. "Besides, I was three years old."

"And it was past your bed time." Mark smiles fondly at the memory at his boy when he was a Spiderman pyjama fanatic with rubber boots and still under his responsibility. "The girls never broke any of my expensive cutlery."

"Oh whoosh." Louis snatches up the towel to wipe the milk moustache off his upper lip. "You were a billionaire by then. Even if they did you didn't care."

"But they _didn't_." Mark insists on pointing out with a weak nudge to Louis' arm.

Louis has to leave the kitchen before he wants to and goes back to the living room prepared to stop a war. It all turns out fine when he steps into vast, open-plan room and nothing is bloody or broken. Instead, he finds Felicite behind the mini bar with Edward, Harry and Phoebe seated on the high stools. Besides that he notices that Phoebe is talking without pausing to Harry, the latter male having a permanent pained look in his expression.

"Um-" He utters a single word and two sets of eyes, similar and paralysing in their emotive power, seek him out. "Dinner is ready."

  
* * * * *  


"I hate your family, petal." 

Louis spins around in the guest bathroom, deep frown creasing his brow. "Hey now. That's rude."

They were in a badly lit bathroom just before joining everyone at the dinner table. Harry was silently leaning against the closed shower door with his ankles crossed and arms folded. Both were guilty of locking themselves in here. 

Edward was seated on the lip of the tub, having escaped from Louis' maddening relatives for the past half hour. "I don't care, baby."

Sighing in a way that's tired and concerned, Louis made his way over to Edward after wiping his hands. He laced his fingers through Edward's silver hair and tugged on the lush locks, the owner of which settled for embracing him around his hips. Edward's heavy arms were possessive and stubborn, face planted in his husband's front.

"I'm so sorry." Louis should have known this atmosphere was never for them and bent down to kiss Edward's head apologetically. "You and Harry can always go home."

"We can't do that, petal." Harry interrupts to project his voice. "We're not going home without you."

There's a short moment when the bathroom door opens by Miles' hand and Harry boredly slammed it shut again, ignorant of the invader's shock at such rejection. The door was locked and Louis tried very hard not to laugh but he was weak and Harry did it so robotically that it seemed a crime not to giggle.

"Well you both can't wait in the car all night." Louis continues brushing through Edward's hair. "My Dad really wants me here tonight."

"Your youngest sister is far more terrifying than either of us." Harry displays an intricate frown, his mouth turned down and brows knitting together. "She kept trying to touch me."

"She's twelve years old, Harry." Louis reminds the unhappy man. "That's hardly an adult."

"Your other sister." Edward supplies from his post pressed against Louis' soft tummy. "The one that was at the bar?"

"Felicite." Louis swallows around her name, tightening his hands in Edward's hair in warning. "I get it. This isn't your thing, no need to insult my family."

"I do want to go back out there however." Edward surprises both his brother and husband by saying. "I have a bone to pick with the bastard Miles."

"What did he do to you?" Louis asks, hoping the absent idiot didn't try anything that could cost him _majorly_ with the twins.

"He commented something inappropriate." Harry answers for his older brother. "Edward had every right gut him yet he didn't."

"Petal wouldn't want that." Edward snapped at his own sibling before hiding his face again. "I won't cause bloodshed under this roof."

"What did he say?" Louis presses, tugged forward once more by Edward's demanding self. "Harry?"

The younger Styles looked up from the speckless state of his shoes to meet Louis' eye just as something fogged over his own, something _hateful_.

"He commented about you. Insulted you." Harry slanted his jaw as if he was chewing but wasn't, cheeks hollowing. "The bastard deserves to have his throat slit."

"No, Harry." Louis couldn't move but he wanted to thank Harry for his self-restraint and loyalty. He got ahold of the man's wrist and pulled him closer, not needing any further encouragement for Harry buries his face in Louis' neck. "Maybe he's a world class idiot but that's not going to be our business, okay? No matter what he says."

His sister was marrying such a spoilt, pretentious fool and Louis had no idea why. Harry blows out a loud breath into Louis' scarred neck and tightens his cage around the boy's body. Edward hadn't moved beyond kissing Louis' bare front after hiking his sweater up. 

"Let's go." Edward's resolve has hardened and he has new purpose for joining them for dinner.

  
* * * * *  


The dinner table is silent at first when Louis walks back out of the bathroom with a Styles on both arms. The table is laden with all the finest foods that's indigenous to this family name and Louis has mastered the art of cooking over the years. Mark is sitting at the head of the table and Louis touches his shoulder on the way to sit alongside him. Edward pulls out his chair and kisses Louis' forehead before helping him sit. Louis knew how much of a showman Edward was when it came to flaunting something and grew tired long ago of trying to dissuade him from doing so.

Harry took a seat next to Edward while Edward sat beside Louis. Across from Louis was Charlotte and next to her, Miles. Felicite sat across an empty chair and Harry nearly paled - an intimidating presence to be reckoned with like himself - at the sight of Phoebe across from him. Louis met his eye with amusement and a sly wink.

Louis shifted once and released a squeak from the toy inside him going too deep, bumping his swollen prostate and rendering him a goner. Edward next to him feigned concern and brushed Louis' cheek in a way of checking up on him. 

"Sit still, petal." Edward smirked in telling him, laying a kiss on Louis' neck. "It will hurt less."

Whether or not Mark read his lips, Louis' father immediately cleared his throat and moved a little away from them. Louis batted Edward's hand away from his thigh as punishment. Edward only dominated his strength and clasped his thigh harder, his grip strong and possessive.

Everyone started dishing and Louis chose to have chicken with a bread roll and what he recognised as Felicite's famous salad. "Fizz, did you put olives in the salad?"

"Yup." His sister answered from behind her glass of water. "I drove to the farmer's market to make sure I had them just for you."

"Smart decision." Louis complimented her with a wave of his fork. "Phoebe, did you contribute at all?"

"Yeah, Lou." His youngest sister sounded positively wounded that he had such little faith in her. 

"Phoebe made dessert." Mark answers more precisely for her, picking up his wine glass. "Everyone should be excited for it."

"I certainly am." Louis tells her though finds that she's already watching Harry pick apart his pasta salad. He nudges Edward and directs his attention to the scene, who finds it just as amusing. 

"So Lou-" Felicite talks to him and Louis is forced to look away from his unnerved spouse. "-what about the ring on your finger?"

Louis studies his wedding ring like it's the first time he's seeing it. He feels both Edward's and Harry's eyes boring their way into his mind, craving any comment he has. "It's plastic and I won it at a fair. What about it?"

Everyone around the table laughs, even Miles and Charlotte, except the twins who feel highly insulted. They are familiar with Louis' humour and current need to break the tension at the dinner table but their _marriage union_ is not something to mock.

Thankfully, Louis stretches in his seat and kisses Edward's cheek as his apology. Edward forgives him a reassuring squeeze of his thigh. Harry obeys Louis' crooked finger addressing him and bends down low behind Edward's chair to get a small kiss from Louis on his lips. He returns the affection with a peck on his husband's forehead.

Louis is funny and cared about his family to make jokes but Louis also _knows_ the men he married.

"That's a bit needy, don't you think?" Miles breaks all hope of a civil dinner with all pleasantries because of his big mouth.

Louis feels Edward's grip get stranglingly tight on his leg and makes effort to detach his palm so their fingers are connected instead. He forces a kind of polite manner in his words. "What do you mean?"

He watches in his peripheral as Mark takes a large gulp of his wine and refills the glass.

"It was a joke." Miles explains, his entire approach to the topic being nothing short of stifling and bothersome. "No need to get so insecure about it."

Miles was referring to the short interaction between the wedded trio after Louis' joke. It was all Louis could do not to roll his eyes and look to his sister in question.

Rather than that, Edward's excitement quirks up and so does his smirk similar to one of a creature that's roams the nights. His scary appearance is worsened by the candelabra separating him and Miles, giving him a formidable glow. "When we require your unhelpful opinion, Miles, you can count on nobody asking for it."

Louis mirrors Mark's actions from earlier and takes his father's filled wine glass to down all its contents. He cannot be sober if this is going to happen. The alcohol soothed the burn of his throat and he swallowed the cool liquid like water. The energy in the room plummeted and he didn't dare look at Edward for fear of recognising how frightening he must appear now that something he holds dear has been threatened.

"Excuse me?" Miles stops chewing whatever Harry hopes will poison him and glares at Edward.

Mark hands Louis the bottle of deep red wine and Louis gives him the white. Phoebe disappears behind her glass of milkshake and Felicite stares at her plate. His father doesn't mutter a word about a fight breaking out at his table and Louis commends him silently on that. 

Edward has a steak knife in his hand, twirling it like a blunt object and Louis is panicking so heavily it threatens to overcome his senses. He squeezes Edward's hand but it doesn't work, so he let's the alcohol get to his head and let's things act out. Mark seems more pleased with the turn of events than he should be.

Edward sits forward in his chair with the steak knife being toyed between his fingers, the sharp end digging into his fingertip but he doesn't _flinch_. It only worsens his persona at the table and everyone is too afraid to look up at him. Harry is always in awe of his older brother when he took charge of the room and everyone in it. He continued to jab away at his steak and salad leaves without caring much for the drama around him.

Louis cleared his throat when he finally thought that this could get real bad too quick and took Edward's hand away from the steak knife. "Let's eat dinner in peace, okay? This family hasn't been together in a long time."

Everyone mumbles their agreement and Miles looks away, his beady little eyes lowering to his food. Edward sets the weaponised utensil down and glances at Louis through his peripheral, a suggestive edge to the smile that tugs on his lips. Louis releases his hand and let's the one on his thigh stay there, returning to his laden plate.

It takes a while of silent clanking on porcelain and shifting in chairs for anyone to try and speak. With the lights dimmed and just candlelight to add ambiance to the setting, everyone was becoming measurably more concerned about the men Louis brought into this home.

Just because his sister chose to bring an absolute prick to their family dinner under poor judgment, Louis can't let this opportunity to catch up with his family slip away. Charlotte made her poor decisions and he will pull her into a room privately later, however right now he's got two seething men seated to his right and that's using up all his concern.

"So Fiz, have you found work yet?" Louis himself asks her when he's done eating a piece of chicken breast with white wine sauce and a potato wedge.

His sister sets down her utensils to answer, twirling the remnants of the drink in her glass. "Kind of. I'm Dad's PA for the time-being."

"Really?" Louis sits back in his chair without looking at Charlotte or her frustrating fiance, trying his very best to neither move his lower half. "I remember that job. Does he still take his coffee black at five minutes past seven?"

"I'm right here, son." Mark reminds him with a forkful of mashed potatoes and marinated beef. 

Louis waves off his father's comment in the least disrespectful way. "Shh, Dad. We're trying to gossip."

A low hum of laughter goes around the table and Louis finds it easier to breathe, passing a smile at his old man whose gratitude is evident in the returning smile. His old man took hours out of the sleep he needs to have to host a dinner so he could see all his children under one room and Louis admires the deed.

"Hey, Phoebe." Louis turns his attention to mouse of a little sister, not wanting her to feel ignored. "I was promised a swimming experience. What happened to that?"

The adolescent straightens up in her seat and almost appears as tall as Felicite next to her. "We can still go!"

"No you can't." Mark shuts the idea down strictly. "You've both just eaten and Louis, you may be a hundred years old but I'm still your father."

Louis and Phoebe have identical pouts but neither argues. Edward's hand slips lower on Louis' leg to between his thighs, the cold rings on his finger contrasting the warmth their on a gradient. Louis doesn't mind it and looks over at Harry to find him a little distracted by his own thoughts. He couldn't wait to get home and hold them both close in bed as tonight has proven to be much too strenuous.

"What about you, Lottie?" Louis swallows his reservations and looks at his spooked sister. 

All eyes at the table except Edward's turn to her. Edward stares diagonally at Miles, as he has ever since he caught the disgusting man looking at Louis. 

"How's work at the firm?" Louis elaborated his question. Lottie has been working at a law firm for three years while Louis was at Middleston and his life developed from there.

"She quit last month." Miles answers, much to Louis visible distaste. The most arrogant of them sits back in his chair with a proud smirk. "Came to work with me."

"With all due respect, Miles, I was speaking to _my sister_ and not you." Louis sets his elbows on the table and _tries_ for his most polite smile, however strained it looks. "Lottie?"

Charlotte looks conflicted and affronted. "U-Um- Work is fine, Louis."

Mark gives up and tosses his napkin onto his plate. "Take Phoebe upstairs, Fiz."

No one had to ask those two twice. Felicite woke up and took Phoebe by the hand away from the table. Everyone around the table braced themselves for an argument, even Louis wrapped his whole hand around Edward's middle finger and anchored himself to the man.

"Now." Mark looked at Charlotte dead in the eye then at Miles. "I'm going to talk to my daughter and if you interrupt me once I will have you thrown out."

Miles was outraged, obviously because his pride was in the wrong place and his pigheadedness made his ego an easily bruised balloon. Louis was giggling as he bowed to head to disguise it and Edward pinched his thigh to make him serious. He looked at the man to find him with his eyes on Miles. 

"When did you quit your job?" Mark asked Charlotte like she was a frightened horse and he needed to approach the topic with caution.

"Uh- last month." She chews her bottom lip and flinches away from her father's anger. "Dad, I-"

"You didn't tell me." Mark was really miffed about this. "I got you that job, Charlotte!"

"I'm sorry!" She apologised weakly. "I just- I _just_ didn't like it there."

"You're lying to me, Charlotte. You came home for a year telling me how much you loved working with Fredrickson." Mark's emotions morphed across his face, a storm brewing.

"I didn't lie!" Charlotte cries out desperately. "I didn't like it there and you always reminded us of how well Louis was doing. How was I supposed to always contend with that?!"

Louis stopped staring at Edward's wedding tattoo to stop breathing and look up at his distraught sister, disappointed father. He _can't_ take it any longer and wants this misery to end already. With everything so dead silent and full of unease, he decides to mend this while it's not broken.

"Edward." He whispers earnestly. "I'll be right back, okay?"

His husband nods stiffly and gets up when he does, a hand on Louis' lower back. "We'll be at the car, petal."

The words bring daggers to Louis' chest but he can only handle one dilemma at a time. He let's Edward have his consent and brushes Harry's arm to acknowledge him before walking around the table to Charlotte. "Get up. We're talking about this in private."

"No, you're not." Miles made the mistake _yet again_ of forcefully opening his mouth.

An echo of something rubbery reverberates through the room and Miles, in his seat, suddenly hisses before reaching up to his neck. Stuck in the back post of his chair so close to the pulse in his neck that it nipped his skin, a crimson rivulet rolling down the side of his throat. 

The injury is sufficient in a threat and Louis directs his gaze at Edward but finds his hands in his pockets. Harry was the more guilty one as he had a second steak knife in his hand, toying with it with a deathly glint in his eye.

"I suggest you stay seated." His precise aim kept the knife from colliding with Miles' throat but if he hadn't promised to not harm greatly in this house, Harry would have cared to aim the knife a little to the left. "If you go near Louis this next knife finds its sheath in your fuckin' skull."

"Thank you, Harry, but I don't need any murders in my home." Mark says, standing up but looking no less drained than a broken man. "Louis, take your sister away."

"Dad-" Charlotte tries but Louis grabs her arm and hauls her out of the room, right down the hallway to the laundry room. 

"Come on. I'm giving petal ten minutes." Edward took the weapon from his brother and dropped it onto the table. He saw Mark on his way to the foyer. "I must thank you for one of the most entertaining nights of my life, Sir."

Mark laughed cynically and stepped up to the door with them, holding it open for them. "I remember you two from that place."

Harry chuckles hauntingly and shakes his head. "We aren't the ones a person forgets, Sir."

"Harry." Mark's expression sobers from gutted to resolved. "Edward. You both may be better than the asshole I have currently in my dining room but Louis is my oldest child and he deserves nothing but the best. If I find out either of you are providing him with anything less, we're going to have a problem."

Edward screws his jaw tightly shut and for a moment shares a look with Harry. He reaches out and shakes Mark's hand, his grip firm and eyes deadset on a prize. "If I or my brother give your son anything less than the best, Sir, I will report us to you myself."


	6. IV.

**_[A/N: Sometimes I listen to MITAM and stare at the album cover like....what the Hell happened? Where did five years go? I'm still here and you're still here. It's the epitome of unbelievable. Also, it bugs the absolute Hell outta me that Harry has his shoes on the couch so if you're reading this, H, please dust the damn sofa. - S xx]_ **

_I will take what is mine with fire and blood._

"What the _Hell_ , Lottie?!" Louis shouts the second they're alone in the buzzing laundry room.

In here the lights were bright and flourescent, three washing machines and two tumble dryers installed along the walls. Louis was _fuming_ and he had every right to be. An envious sister with no backbone is not what he grew up with. 

Charlotte sniffles and shakily wipes the dampness away from her eyes. She was so unstable, her person so torn up inside. "I-I'm sorry."

"Well that doesn't do anything now, does it?" Louis throws his hands up, exasperated with the choices of his naïve younger sister. 

He's lucky and grateful that his rage paired with rampant mood alterations doesn't allow his sister to realise that he isn't moving his lower half at all. There was still the issue of Harry's adventurous whim leaving him squirming and twitching with a toy so deep inside him it hurt to have it move.

"How dare you imply that our father compares all of you to me?" He sounds more exhausted now than angry. "He loves all of us equally, Charlotte."

She did know that but she didn't know why she chose to lie anyway, to defend a man that would cheat on her the second they got back from their rushed honeymoon. "L-Lou, I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologise to me." He snaps, regretting it afterwards. "Go out there and apologise to Dad."

"I-I will." Charlotte nods fervently, shrinking in on herself just after her excitement dwindles. "Louis?"

"Yeah?" He answers, ready as always to hear anything. He adores his sisters so much. 

Charlotte looks up at him with bloodshot eyes and a quivering lip. "C-Can you get rid o-of Miles?"

"What?" Louis frowns at the peculiar nature of this question. He isn't ready to hug her and comfort her yet despite that being what he wanted to do.

"I-I'm afraid of him." She whispers so lowly like Miles will hear them from all the way in the dining room. "M-Make him go away, please."

"Oh Charlotte." Louis' sympathy reaches maximum levels as he reaches for his sister and she falls into his comforting embrace, her maincured nails disregarded for clinging to her older sibling. "I'm glad you've realised he's toxic to you but I can't take care of that for you, love. You've got to be brave all on your own."

  
* * * * *  


Louis rapped his knuckles on Phoebe's decorative bedroom door. "Knock knock."

The answer he gets from his almost teenage sister is a shout of his name and the already open door being yanked further inward. "Lou, come here!"

"I actually have to go, love." He regretfully slips his fingers into his front pockets and shrugs. 

Phoebe's heartbreak is displayed with a pout that mirrors his and Felicite next to her cooeing as well. "Stay to see her concert photos, Lou."

"What concert photos?" He steps further into his sister's pink and beige room, gingerly taking a seat on the edge of her princess bed. 

The youngest sidles up next to him and under his arm with her giant album, covered in glitter and frilly things. In fabric paint from a tube, the title **JB** is scrawled over the purple leather. His father really needs to stop indulging Phoebe's designer tendencies or sequins will be the reason he goes bankrupt.

" _Oh_." He rounds his thin lips in skeptism and rolls his eyes when Felicite looks his way. "When did you go for a Justin Bieber concert?"

"Last month." Felicite answers because Phoebe often had difficulty remembering details. 

"Fiz." Phoebe discourages such broad elaboration of the best day of her life. "It was March twenty-nineth."

"Yeah, Fiz. Get your facts straight." Louis scoffs mockingly as his sister tosses a pillow at him. "So how much fun was it, Phe-Phe?"

Phoebe crosses her legs on the bed with all her sheets and other accessories thrown aside. Louis browses through the photographs in the album though he can hardly make out much. The stage looks pretty clear from an aerial view and the star's image was near minute.

"Dad got me a box suite. And then after the show he got Justin to come say hi!" She says proudly, suddenly breaking out into excited giggles that make Louis laugh uncontrollably. 

"He did? I'm quite jealous right now." Louis pretends to be envious with pouted lips and a scrunched up nose. 

"Look!" Phoebe encourages him to look at the meet and greet photos. 

Louis has rarely paid attention to any celebrity news but this Justin lad sure had plenty of tattoos. He then bites his tongue because he's married to two men just as inked in different regions.

"I can see you were very excited to meet him." Louis kisses Phoebe's forehead and hands back her album.

"I didn't forget about you!" Phoebe suddenly scrambles off the bed and tumbles towards her dresser, Felicite grabbing hold of her so she doesn't harm herself.

"She got us all autographs." Felicite informs him with a loving yet amused glance at their sister. "Dad paid to have this guy with us for a whole hour so she made him sign everything she carried."

"Ah. This one is going to give Dad a run for his money." Louis welcomes Phoebe back pressed right up against his leg as she unfolds an embroidered napkin. Black ink from a marker was scribbled across in illegible font that made Louis squint, followed by an elegent signature. "Thank you, Phoebe. I'm going to frame this."

"You have to!" She declared, taking no prisoners. 

"She's not kidding." Felicite says eloquently, straightening Phoebe's skirt at the back.

"Well, darling-" Louis embraces his simplest, youngest sister tightly. "-I have two husbands who wouldn't like it if I were put up someone else's signature in our home."

Phoebe's mood is dampered momentarily until she brightens inexplicably from an epiphany. "I'll tell 'em myself!"

"No!" Louis laughs and doesn't release her from his hug. He is well aware how close Harry is blowing over with discomfort and he doesn't need any more knives being thrown. "I'll talk to them, okay? I have to go but thank you for this autograph. Goodnight now, love."

  
* * * * *  


"Bye, Dad." Louis approaches his father after leaving his much more independently influcenced sister to handle her own private problems. 

Mark gave his son a look to convey every emotion he's felt tonight. Fondness. Minimal self-restraint. Love. Longing. Hurt. Pride. It's a storm of feelings and Louis squeezes him around his neck, kisses his cheek loudly with a big grin to say it's all better now.

"Thank you for having us." Louis gets back down on the heels of his feet. "I am sorry we didn't get to see that pool though."

Mark laughs hoarsely and pats Louis' back. "Maybe next time."

"Yeah." Louis walks with his parent to the door and sees two desirable men in suits waiting impatiently outside their Jeep for him. "It's late and they're probably tired too. Goodnight."

Mark holds him back by his arms for a second, kissing Louis' forehead in a way he used to whenever Louis accomplished something brave and fulfilling as a child. "Have a good night, son."

"And Dad?" Louis waits for Mark to be looking at him. "Stop paying for popstars to spend an hour with Phoebe."

Boisterous follows him on his way down the stairs, one step at a time because never before has downhill been worse than uphill. He tries not to let the waddle in his walk show and waves one last time to his old man before being cloaked over by the shadow of night and tall trees that makes him one with the darkness.

Mark goes back inside and to his right, engages the switch that will flood light on the side porch. He won't lose track of his son again.

Louis made it as far as the other side of the Jeep he came in after Mark disappeared back into the house, before being pounced on. What and who attacked him could be legitimised as the wrath of his husbands that were both already fuming.

Edward effectively boxed Louis in against their vehicle, one arm extended towards his right. The fury was present in the tightness of his jaw, the fist that slammed into the Jeep's door without so much as a _flinch_. Harry's chose to let his weight fall sidewards to lean against his favourite inanimate asset, his anger radiating off him with how close he was to Louis.

"I know what you're going to say." Louis tries to calm the situation before they attract any attention from inside. 

"Do you, petal?" Edward's smile is sickly sinister but he doesn't shove Louis off when his husband places his palms flat on his torso. 

"Let him try." Harry is smugly taking on the more affectionate role and cranes his neck to nip at Louis' neck right where Edward's scar is. "I want to hear him try."

Once Louis feels the shivers that roam icily over his stripped spinal chord dissolve into the regular _feelings_ he experiences around the twins, he speaks. "You hate my family and never want to go in there again."

"I underestimated you, baby." Edward's pointed teeth come out from behind his lips when he throws a lopsided smirk Louis' way. 

" _But_ -" Louis tries, grabbing onto Edward's lapels because this is around the time he pulls away.

He was right but Edward gets roped back in and Louis looks to Harry for assistance he doesn't receive. "I take it back, petal."

"That's my family." Louis states bluntly, peering desperately into Edward's eyes. "And it's only just Miles that you both hate."

"Your little sister is a terror." Harry deadpans, clicking his tongue. "You swore me off bloodshed and I've got to put up with her."

"You won't lay a hand on her, Harry." Louis warns, not at all willing to take his brotherly duty lightly. 

"Yes, yes." Harry is pulling out a cigarette from his inner jacket pocket and letting grey smoke float into the air. 

Edward presses Louis' hips back into the Jeep's cold steel not so gently. "You're fucking forbidden from coming here again. Let's go home."

"What?" Louis yanks his arm free from Edward before he's hauled into the back-seat. "You can't forbid me from seeing my own family!"

"Your family, with the exception of Mark, hasn't seen you for the past two years." Harry explains with his slow drawl. "We have."

"So that gives you some kind of leverage?" Louis snaps at his husbands. They're being irrational and he should have _expected_ this.

"It gives us you." Edward's hands overlap on Louis' hips and he brings their faces close, his breath on Louis' lips and daunting eyes digging crypts in the boy's sweet navy blue. 

"You are _not_ forbidding me from seeing my family." Louis says it slow and purposeful, wanting them both to comprehend his words strictly.

"We are." Harry opens the door for Louis and Edward hoists him up onto the seat. "This discussion is over, petal."

  
* * * * *  


"Home." Louis walks into their apartment after _ages_ of being away from it and giggles when Edward grabs onto him from behind to scatter kisses on his neck.

He hasn't given in to the twins' silly rule about never seeing his family but he also knows that immediately after something happens isn't the best time to argue. 

Louis loves his family dearly even in their demotivated state and through thick or thin but it's been a long time since anywhere but with the twins has been his home. He feels most settled and at peace when he's with them, in this spacious apartment in the middle of a hectic city high up in a fortress.

The man digs his fingers into Louis' sides to tickle him and sucks sporadic bruises onto his bare, pale skin. "Yes, petal." 

Giggling uncontrollably and failing at overcoming Edward's strength that's branded to his hips, Louis can't smother the sheer glee of his grin. It's then that he makes a decision to call in sick at work tomorrow. Majority of his work has been completed today and he can afford to take a sick day. 

Harry goes to dump their gym bag of unused swimwear and clothing before disengaging Edward's arms and picking Louis up to haul over his shoulder in a single swipe. Louis swallows his scream and grapples onto the tail of Harry's shirt so he doesn't slip.

"What are you doing?!" He asks in contemplation and fear, smaller fists pounding on Harry's remarkably muscular back to free himself. "Edward!"

Harry's palm swatted Louis' behind over the fabric of his jeans and the already somewhat tender skin from his previous spanking. Louis whined and squirmed across Harry's shoulder, getting no aid from his other husband that abandoned them with a familiar chuckle to pour himself a glass of Bourbon.

"I always keep my promises, petal." Harry laid a careful hand over Louis' cheek and caressed the skin in gentle, elongated strokes. "Especially with you."

He got carried all the way to their bedroom and dumped on the bed like a hollow vessel. The plug inside him shifted too much for it not to be uncomfortable. Louis arched his back with a whimper to get it right again but to no avail, his breath knocked out of him when Harry flipped him around.

"You handled this so well tonight." Harry was the weight that pressed onto his back, his warm breath fanning across Louis' cheek.

Hands larger than his found Louis' fists amongst their unmade sheets and yanked them up above his head, connecting their mouths to swallow Louis' gasp. His husband with a sweeter, softer body moans and twists futilely to link their fingers together. Louis' skin is heating up along with his humming libido, unecessarily wriggling his bum into Harry's crotch to hear the man groan.

Memories of Harry's dominance plague Louis' thoughts and he surrenders himself to this beast of a man. Harry is a true man at heart and whether his actions were noble or not, his intentions were always loyal. 

Their lips were separated and Louis mewled, wanting more of this man's taste. Once on his back agains, Louis feels Harry slide down the length of his body and stand up. Blindly their clothes come off in a fury - the c*ck ring included - and Louis stops Harry from cloaking his body again, pushing him back to keep standing.

Louis cares not for the indecency of his state and stands as well, all of their bodies aligned and touching from lips to ankles when he brings their mouths together. Harry's chest rumbles in a warm growl as he winds an arm around Louis' back and the other frames Louis' cheek, licking into his husband's mouth fervently.

"Harry." Louis tried to speak around the need to let his knees go weak, Harry's mouth at his throat and rough handle on his hips. " _Harry_."

"Yeah, petal?" Harry's mouth moved to Louis' throat where he blew out harsh breaths and sucked bright red bruises, leaving the skin sensitive and raw. 

Fingers threaded through Harry's hair and Louis anchored himself to the man that way, jaw slackened and eyes closed as Harry cupped his behind. Both hands were strong and insistent, nails scratching Louis' skin when he dared to pull away. Harry picked him up briefly and tossed him onto the bed, eyes darkening with lust.

Harry jerked his chin in a minute nod and Louis obediently turned over onto his hands and knees. 

"So sweet like this, petal." Harry ran his hands over Louis' body and smirked proudly when his husband arched into his touch, mewled when it was away.

Without further ado, Harry nudged Louis' ankles apart and held him open over his stretched hole. The toy was transparent glass and Harry bit his lip at the visual of Louis' body _inside_ , rubbed raw and struggling still to accommodate the wide toy. Harry trailed his finger down Louis' perineum and caught onto the base of the plug, free hand abusing Louis' cheek in a deathgrip. 

Harry secures a decent hold on the intruding toy and tugs. Louis' insides quiver and he falls forward on the bed, victim to the most earthshattering sensation. He tries to relax but Harry won't let him, holds too tight and spanks him when he disobeys. The object inside him draws on his sensitised walls, making them throb with blood and the suction cup contributes to the painful hardening of his erection.

It's too much and too little all bundled up in his explicable arousal. Louis whines helplessly and his hole clenches around nothing when Harry finally releases him of the toy that stuffed him full. He opened his eyes but his vision was blurred, tears springing to his vision and stinging him. 

When the feel of Harry's lips on his hole originates, Louis cries out from the peak of stimulation and bites the fabric of their bedsheets to keep from coming. Harry's tongue is sin on him, flicking against the puckered and pink skin of his rim. The muscle is burning and Harry's arms tighten Louis' waist, squeezing around him as he plunges the wet muscle into his lover.

Louis screams, head tossed back and throat vibrating with how much it hurts to strain his voice. He can't handle it but he wants it all. One shift of Harry's tongue inside him and Louis is coming, spurting white on the sheets and his front. He convulses and clamps down on Harry, whimpers and mumbled curses falling from his lips.

"That's it, baby." Harry milks him of his orgasm, cruelly disregarding the shudders that rake through Louis' body. 

He climbs onto the bed between Louis' spread legs and fists over his own ignored length, groaning from how sensitive he's become. Louis' body is _it_ for him and when Harry buries himself in that gorgeous warmth, the tightness circling and clenching around him, it's his own taste of madness.

Louis was sweet and delicate, the taste of his body a drug to both Edward and Harry. Harry bottoms out in the delicious form of his lover now and groans loudly, overcome with forgetting just how fantastical Louis felt to be inside. He holds Louis down after they've both adjusted and fucks into him rough and dirty, bruising Louis' behind and biting his skin elsewhere.

Harry was bigger than the toy, and he had the strength of a man. He did a whole lot more damage by mistreating Louis' prostate, continually slamming into it so the boy choked and shouted blindly. Louis wasn't allowed to come again until Harry was close. In the blackness of their bedroom at an hour when every other person was asleep, Harry found reason to exploit Louis' sanity.

He flattened their bodies and connected their mouths, a deep kiss that's sloppy and barbaric. Harry held Louis' hips with both firm hands and pounded into him at the perfect angle, drowning him in his panting noises and broken shivers. 

"You're so good to me, baby." Harry whispered huskily in his ear, all wet lips and sharp nails. Louis reached behind him and fisted his hand in Harry's curls, body jerking and mind blanking with each precise thrust. "I want to hear you, petal. Scream for me, baby."

Harry hadn't used lube beyond what was already slathered on Louis' insides, his c*ck that Louis has become to needy with is dribbling precome to the mess inside him. It's sinful and mindnumbingly perfect for them. Harry leaves him quaking and quivering, thighs spread so wide and pounding senseslessly into him. 

"I said-" Harry's hand was at his throat, cutting off his air supply and leaving his unsteady vision blurry. "- _scream._ "

Louis' jaw fell open and he hurled Harry's name at the skies. He was tossing and thrashing about, suffering under the weight of his lover that's expertly beating against his prostate. Harry's manhood was enough to fill him up to an edge that tore him open each time, opening him up because it was so _big_.

"More, baby." Harry pushed himself up on his knees and held onto Louis' lovehandles, pivoting his hips wildly and slapping against the soft skin. 

Louis had skin that was sweating and words were tumbling out of him, out of his control. They had sex every day without fail or excuse but each time felt like he'd been starved and was finally getting release. "I-I- _Yes, Daddy!_ L-Love you, Daddy."

Harry loved hearing Louis' strangled shouts and pleas when they fucked. It reminded him of how much control he had over the most beautiful thing in the world. He groans as if pained and bucks his hips a few more times before spilling into Louis' spent body, collapsing atop his lover.

"Daddy." Louis whined, out of breath and _sore_. He couldn't budge Harry by an inch and his own climax has been denied from him. 

Without permission, he sneaked a hand down between the mattress and his body. It was a tight fit but he forced it to work. Harry was mouthing sloppily at his shoulder, ignorant of how _painful_ it is to be on the edge with nothing to tip him over. He's grown so susceptible being obedient and not break the rule of not touching his length - no matter how neglected he feels.

"Careful, baby." Harry hushed him when Louis' fingers grazed over the region where they were joined, his softening c*ck tucked in past the barrier of Louis' body. 

Louis suffers through a jolt of pleasure in the form of electricity racing through his veins. Harry kisses his neck gently and slaps Louis' hand away, intervening on his own. He feels around their physical union, rubbing over the damp and throbbing skin with his harsh fingertips. It was a _magnificent_ experience to grope around where he's locked deep inside his lover, a loosening erection still buried in him. 

Louis came with a shout and violent shudder after Harry parted two fingers and slipped them over on either side of his own c*ck. He rubbed over that swollen skin and muscle with hard strokes, nails scraping his soft lover one last time. 

"Good boy." Harry praised him after he endured a release pressed tightly into the mattress. 

Louis had the most peaceful, blissed out face when he came. He shut his eyes and let his lips part in a frozen scream. The twins had fallen in love with his orgasmic expressions, and often wanted to witness it because of the pleasure _they_ gave him.

"You can sleep now, petal." Harry pulled out after much deliberation and his length was softened entirely, helping Louis curl up under the covers.

The crickets were inaudible with how high up in the sky they are. Louis was half asleep by the time Harry finished cleaning him with a wet flannel and settle in behind the boy. Calm breathing and lack of consciousness took over their atmosphere at once, Harry falling asleep in the bend of Louis' neck.

  
* * * * *  


"Oh Edward, look!" Louis called to his companion with a loud giggle that summoned the attention of others passing by. 

Edward looked up from his phone to his lovely husband cradling a baby goat. The creature had soft white fur with black socks at its hooves, underdeveloped horns and a brown muzzle. Louis was enchanted by it.

"Isn't he adorable?" Louis hugged the baby animal close and smiled when it bleated, continuing to chew on its carrot. 

"I'm sure it is." Edward chuckled and admired Louis' fascination from behind the frames of his Ray Bans.

They had come to the Farmer's Market to celebrate Louis' day off. Louis wanted fresh ingredients to cook dinner with and Edward volunteered to accompany him to this actual rural area. The hills were gentle and the grass was harmless against their ankles as they walked through it. 

One thing was undeniable here and that's fact that the air was clean and unpolluted. Being away from the city was like having a new perspective on the same world. Edward was forced to dress casually to spend the day with his energetic husband. He donned faded jeans and one dress shirt that's unbuttoned to his first skull tattoo. To spite Edward's stubborness, Louis wore jean shorts that stopped at his knees and a tank top. 

"I wish we could keep him." Louis brought the surprisingly not filthy animal closer and lightly tickled its neck. "I'd name him Elijah."

Edward wasn't affronted anymore by Louis' random bursts of loving nature although he was more accustommed to it being directed at him or Harry. "I love everything that you do, petal, but I won't live with a goat."

"A baby goat." Louis corrected, beaming brighter than the sun. "We should actually get a pet, you know."

"Why?" Edward waited for Louis to deposit the farm creature back in its pen before draping an arm around his shoulders. 

"Don't you and Harry get bored at home when I'm working?" Louis washed his hands at a little impromptu tap set up near the tents. He wrapped his hand around Edward's middle finger on his shoulder and walked with him to the stalls. 

"And you think a dog or cat will fix that?" Edward teases him with a kiss and brief nuzzle to Louis' neck. 

Louis rolls his eyes and breathes in deeply, looking at the white tents and organic stalls set up all around him. It was like a tiny Renaissance fair. He let his left hand slip around Edward's waist and into his back pocket. People were so relaxed in a venue like this, an event that starts and ends with a chilled ambiance. 

"I was thinking more along the lines of a baby goat." Louis puffs up his cheeks and laughs musically when Edward groans disapprovingly. "Let's browse."

Together they happen by many stalls of organic smoothies and crisp jusices for them to share. Edward purchases for Louis a small bowl of caramel corn that tastes undoubtedly better than the store-bought deal. He only gets a taste for himself when Louis feeds him the last bit and bursts into laughter when Edward licks his fingertips.

"People are staring." Louis points out to his actively intimidating husband, perusing the fresh goods for sale. 

"Let them do so then." Edward escalates the game he played with innocent eyes by caging Louis' waist from the side and forcing his way to nuzzling his neck.

Louis can only gasp and hope not to stumble when Edward becomes this affectionate, bracing his hands on the man's forearms. He doesn't disregard the forwardness so much as peck Edward's cheek and continues to peruse the wooden carton as shelves. People who couldn't care less walked away and those who were judgmental past glares in their direction.

"I'm thinking of roast chicken for dinner." Louis thinks out loud and admires how fresh and mouthwatering everything looks. "We could get all the vegetables here."

Edward rests his chin on Louis' shoulder and watches him pick out the right kinds of pumpkin, squash, potatoes and some eggs. His lovely little husband uses his wallet snatched out from his pocket to pay for the gorceries himself. It's amusing to watch Louis slip the change and wallet back into his pocket with an innocent smile before he pecks Edward's lips.

"I promised Harry that I'd make spaghetti with hotdogs for him." Louis accepts the bags from the stall owner and dislodges Edward from his side to just hold his hand. "Let's feed me, Daddy. I'm hungry."

Edward knew his petal down to the genes of his impulses and had already spotted a stall that catered decent food. "Are you in the mood for goat, petal?"

Louis jabs his side and Edward throws his head back to laugh mockingly at his pouting husband. The breeze whipping around them was so light and scented with the sweetness of berries and fresh herbs. It was undeniably easy when Louis had to pick something to eat. He and Edward found an empty picnic table to sit at with their burgers just after stepping out of the queue.

"It tastes different." Louis commented with the straw of his Sprite between his lips.

"Because the take-out we eat is garbage." Edward answers, sitting across from Louis and eating a lot faster than he is. "Petal, I have something I want to talk to you about."

Louis slows down his chewing and crosses his legs on the bench he sat on, recognising the seriousness in Edward's tone. He set the can of his drink down to listen without distraction. It was difficult to read any emotion in Edward's eyes from joy to anger and back again, but Louis knew conflict when he saw it.

"What's wrong?" He stopped Edward from tearing apart the paper bag their food came in and laced his fingers through the man's, despite the smidgen quantities of organic mayyonaise on his. 

All Edward did was sigh and argue with himself on the inside. In the end, he met Louis' concerned blue eyes and leaned a little closer. "I've reconsidered your proposal to get a baby goat."

  
* * * * *  


Louis opened the door to their apartment and slammed it shut before Edward could walk in. While his amused and careless husband followed him, Louis spotted Harry lounging shirtless on the couch. He made that his destination and on the way kicked off his shoes.

"How was the market?" Harry's answer was a lapful of Louis that fitted himself against the man's chest. "Well hello to you, petal."

"Edward is a jerk." Louis squeezed his eyes closed and wrapped himself around Harry where he chose to be. 

Harry's shoulders shook with laughter but he shared his fleece quilt with the boy anyway. "What did you do, brother?"

Edward got a bottle of iced water from the fridge and made his way achingly slow to where the dramatic minx was lying. He perched himself on the back of the couch and uncapped his bottle. 

"Nothing." The man was smirking and his dimples were out on a mission. "Petal wanted a baby goat and I offered to give him one."

"A baby goat?" Harry questions with a bewildered expression. He still has his arm protectively around Louis' shoulders and over his hip so Louis doesn't care how confused he is. 

"Indeed." Edward winked when Louis glared at him, leaning down but Louis shuts him and his bubblegum cherry lips with the blanket. "Oh petal."

Harry doesn't bother to try disabling Louis' shell. He tightens his arms around his precious husband and sighs, continuing to watch the action film on the television with Louis tucked in under his chin.

"Don't be mad at me, baby." Edward reaches out and crooks a finger over the edge of the blanket, tugging on it against Louis' strength to expose more of him.

Being under the insulation of a heavy quilt has turned Louis' bare skin a little red and hot. He can't hide behind Harry when Edward forces him to look up and to kiss him, a gentle peck on the softest lips. 

"I'm sorry." He whispered so calmly and breathily that Louis had to forgive him. 

Louis smiled in a way that brought the joy up to his bright blue eyes and glossed them over. He bit Edward's bottom lip when the man tried to retract himself and it was with enough force to break the skin. The salty taste of blood dripped onto Louis' tongue and he curled his hand around Edward's nape.

"You're forgiven." He muttered with a quick kiss that left both their lips dabbled in the faintest streaks of blood. Louis heard Edward groan. "Come cuddle with me."

"I'm already doing that, petal." Harry points out dryly as he picks up the remote and accommodates Louis' legs wrapped around his hips. 

He switches channels in time for Edward to yank the blanket off them both and find a home curled around Louis from behind. Louis turns on his side and rests his cheek on Harry's torso, content only when Edward plasters himself to him. He examines the tattoos on Harry's chest while Edward distractedly kisses up his shoulder or neck.

"What are you watching?" Louis asks in a low, sugary voice. He tilts his head back with those powerful blue eyes awaiting Harry's foresty green ones. 

"Something pointless and primitive." Harry's leg is not covered by the blanket and Louis kicks his own free to entangle with Harry's. 

"Can we watch a scary movie?" Louis was using his quiet voice that got him anything and everything in the world from the twins if he wanted it.

Edward was comfortable enough to die caught up in his petal. He tightened his heavy arm around Louis' waist and nibbled on his shoulder, tiny red stains left behind from his bleeding lip. "It's the middle of the day, petal."

Harry picked up the second remote from the coffee table and used it to draw the curtains so their entire apartment turned dark enough to fool anyone. He gave Louis the opportunity to pick a horror film whilst taking care of the absurdity that was the boy's jean shorts. Louis was too familiar with these customs to argue and let himself be stripped of his bottoms.

The newly bared skin rested atop both twins and Edward slipped a hand between his thighs for no reason. Their position was warm and comforting to him as he could lie lazily on their couch with his husbands during a movie no one will pay attention to. Very seldom do they all get to do this and it's endearing now as a rarity.

"Hey Harry?" Louis' finger traces over the man's protruding collarbones while _Hills Have Eyes_ displays its opening credits. "Do you still want spaghetti for dinner?"

Harry first kisses the top of Louis' head. "Do you not feel up to making it?"

"No. You know I love cooking for you." Louis winces when a few of his bruises from last night come under the administration of Edward's deft fingers. "Just wanted to check."

They sit in a comfortable silence for the duration of the movie, that feat being mainly attributed to Edward's boredom but reluctance to leave and Harry's respect for every film they watch. The horror aspect of the motion picture is disregarded for their histories combined make for a far scarier reel. 

Somewhere between everyone's massacre on screen and an invasion of the family's caravan, Harry joins his brother's club of boredom. He makes a short grumble that ensures Louis gets his message before shuffling down lower on the length of his partially naked husband. Louis gets tugged back into the curve of Edward's body but that's sufficient for Harry who hikes Louis' shirt up and latches his lips to the boy's otherwise ignored right nipple.

Louis hardly gets breathless and stimulated by the act anymore, except for when Harry attacks him under the heated circumstance of sex. His husband is overly fond of pinning him down and attaching his mouth to Louis' chest when he's suffering from boredom or restlessness. The deed, however _obscene_ , always did the miracle of calming him right down.

While Harry suckled peacefully with his eyes closed and tiny grunts coming from him, Louis tries to focus on the movie. He has one hand caught up with Edward's, their fingers tangled up, but the other one is free to comb through Harry's silky curls continually.

"Petal, I never ask how you've been doing at work." Edward's voice cuts through their quiet time, his lips darting across Louis' scapulla. "I'm asking now."

Louis giggles first, freeing himself enough that he isn't squirmy with too much warmth surrounding him. He winces when Harry rolls his pink and pebbled nibble between his teeth, for no reason other than he likes attention from his petal.

"Yesterday was the toughest day." Louis admits with a sigh and wiggle to get comfortable, reaching for the TV remote. "My boss signed our company on for an internation project we just weren't ready for yet."

"And?" Edward presses. "Did you finish what you had to on time?"

"Yes." Louis amusedly rolls his eyes and pecks Edward's forehead. "I was thinking the whole time about how upset you'd be if I didn't get it done."

This husband of his was very proper in his work ethic, regardless of what that work applied to. He was impressed when Louis did his job to his best abilities and even helped out on the days Louis couldn't see himself doing that. 

"That was fair motivation, I'd say." Edward chuckles and the revelation of his sharper than safer teeth adds a sinister edge to his laughter. 

"We can't lie around like this all day." Louis pouts and shifts around between his idle husbands more than necessary, causing Harry to growl and bruise his hip when it gets him to detach from Louis' nipple. "Let's do something constructive."

"Such as?" Edward had his arm thrown over his eyes and Harry was content where he was.

Louis pulls Harry off his front and gets up to fetch one of their laptops for browsing. Upon returning, both his husbands are strewn over the length of their larger than life couch trying to look occupied. Neither of them wanted to go out while their petal did and the conflict of interest was not going to be settled in their favour.

"How about-" Louis falls onto the single sofa across from them, folding his legs under his weight. "-a carnival?"

"No." Harry grumbles irritably and continues to channel surf although he's been over the same guide twice. 

"We could see a movie." Louis actually laughs at himself after suggesting such a silly thing.

"We can do the same thing right here, petal." Edward pats the spot between his brother and him on the bunched up quilt.

"I got it!" Louis chews his lip and clicks away on Harry's Macbook looking for the correct contact details.

"What would that be?" Harry has to ask because whenever their little husband didn't immediately follow up with the details of his plans, they were bound to hate it. 

"Petal." Edward looked at Louis being so enthralled by the computer screen that it worries him. "Tell me what you're thinking, petal."

"Oh." Louis stops circling his wedding ring with his opposite index finger and glances up. "I was thinking a double date with Niall, Liam and Zayn."

**_[A/N: Stuff will start happening soon I promiseeeee. - S xx]_ **


	7. V.

**_[A/N: So excited for this double date. - S xx]_ **

"Hey Niall." Louis sat on the floor of their closet in his T-shirt and panties, locked in there by his own choice. 

"Oh no." Niall's instant high-pitch and aggravation leaks into the tone of his voice. "Look who decided to finally call."

Louis rolls his eyes at the ceiling with a tiny laugh. He hugs his knees to his chest and leans back against the half of the closet that Edward claimed. "Ni. Have you still not forgiven me?"

"Why would I?" Niall huffs on the other end, major rustling coming from him dropping something. "Why _should_ I?"

"Because I'm calling to invite you on a date." Louis thought the proposal might distract his best friend from lashing out.

"Aren't you married now?" Niall's scoff is amused and ridiculing. "You can't ask people on dates anymore."

"Sure I can." Louis coughed into his fist and crossed his legs under himself. "So do I have a yes?"

"Only if you promise to make me the sole god-parent of your first kid."

Louis could laugh at that without a tightening in his chest and felt less tense with Niall no longer angry. "Sure, Ni."

Niall has to end their cheerful conversation when Zayn gets home from the precinct and hangs up suspicious noises. Louis gets up from the floor and unlocks the door to their closet before stepping out. The bedroom he shares with the twins is plunged into darkness after both Styles brothers forgot to turn on any lights. Their curtains were so effective in blocking out all sunlight from outside. 

Louis almost successfully convinces himself that he's alone and needs to search for his eccentric husbands. The arms that catch him suddenly by his waist and the body that presses to his back dictates something else. All his resistance gets him nothing because Louis is hoisted over one solid shoulder and lies their limply.

"You're crazy." Louis notices the nearly black shade of Harry's hair and tugs on those maddening curls. 

"Maybe-" Harry curls his arm around Louis' waist and strides effortlessly out of the bedroom, like he isn't towing another human. "-but you no longer beg me to put you down."

Rolling his eyes, Louis exhales with pouted lips and fists the back of Harry's shirt when the man jogs down the staircase. "Where are you taking me then?"

"Petal." Edward is standing about the kitchen, pouring hot water into a navy mug. "What were you doing upstairs?"

Louis is not put down from Harry's shoulder but the latter goes on with business of grabbing a beer from the fridge. He sighs and looks at Edward with a quirked eyebrow. "I was talking to Niall."

"And?" Edward need not walk to keep Louis in close range because leaned against a pillar and uncapped his chilled beverage. "Did your blond friend find your idea of a _double date_ appealing?"

"Of course he did." Louis pushed himself up a little straighter and squeaked when Harry pinched his bum. "Have _you_ reconsidered your answer?"

"No." Edward smirked from behind his mug when he took a sip. "Looks like you're not going anywhere then, petal."

Louis was _very_ tempted to stick his tongue at his stubborn husband. "That's not fair, Daddy."

"I never said it was going to be fair, baby." Edward freed Louis from Harry's imprisonment and let his brother go into the living room. 

He caught Louis with his arm around the boy's back, standing isolated against the kitchen island. Louis chose to unbutton and re-button his shirt while repeatedly nudging Edward's jaw with his temple. It was bothersome but Edward didn't mind one bit. He slid his hand down to Louis' bum and allowed his neck to be minutely gnawed on.

Louis was trying to convince him in a non-verbal manner and Edward was content with letting him try. His petal's lips were pink, thin and wet as they mapped out the bulging artery in his own neck.

"Please say yes." Louis didn't want to whine but he would if Edward pushed him far enough so as he had no other choice. 

"No." Edward found pleasure in kissing the tip of Louis' nose even with the boy glaring up at him.

"Harry said yes." Louis points out, knowing that it would little tip the iceberg of Edward's mindset.

He was right because all Edward did was squeeze him through the back of his panties. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

"I want you both to be there." Louis had to push himself up on his tiptoes and take Edward's mug away from him to guide his husband's arms around him more securely. "We'll go to a fancy restaurant and I'll let you get me all liquored up."

Edward picked up his mug again and took a sip from its contents despite the temperature of it being scalding hot. Louis was running out of time so he took the liberty of catching Edward's lower lip between his molars, tugging on it with a little mewl.

It certainly surprised Edward for he gasped softly and bowed his head to be at Louis' advantage. He smirked when the boy roughly kissed him and hung off his lip, causing its swelling under his sharp teeth.

"Please?" Louis slipped off him with the brightest fucking eyes and a little sweetness in his voice that's higher-pitched than usual. 

Edward curses under his breath and looks into those remarkable eyes, piercing as daggers and sparkling like two of the brightest stars. He knows he's about to lose this battle.

  
* * * * *  


Louis grinned smugly as he looked up at Edward, clinging to the man's arm as they waited to be seated. Edward was pretending to be angry with him but Louis knew better. He stretched up and gave the man's jaw a kiss. Harry had given in fairly easily to Louis' request as he always did, and was left to walk Edward down a torturous revenge.

"You can't ignore me all night." Louis whispered lowly in Edward's ear, nibbling on the man's earlobe to be as tempting as can be. 

Edward's growl is pressed into Louis' neck where he bravely chose to nip at the boy's skin. "If you continue to _guilt_ me, petal, I will take you over my knee publicly."

Louis leaned a little away from him but he was still amused, eyes shining as he almost giggled. "You _love_ me, Daddy."

Edward abruptly yanks Louis' whole body closer and his mouth swoops down to crash over his spouse's. He feels Louis smiling into the kiss and hums in gratification when the boy allows him to inappropriately swipe across his tongue.

"I _do_ love you." Edward reached up and with a little more colour to his lips, neatened Louis' fringe over his eyes. "As manipulative and sassy as you might be."

"I'd say that's the reasons to love him." Harry interrupts them, pulling his idle hands out of his pockets.

He'd cut in here at the sight of their companions for the evening walking in through the French restaurant's front door. He slides his palm over Louis' tummy and draws him closer to be under his arm. Their boy is always comfortable when he's tucked into one of their sides. 

Louis smiled and waved at Niall when he spotted his friends, one busied with fidgeting with Harry's suit jacket buttons. His husbands had dressed formally due to the fine reputation of this restaurant that Louis let them pick out from all the others. He had simply gone with Harry's grey sweater and leggings he hoped would fool everyone into thinking they're jeans.

"Hey." Louis greeted Niall by hugging him tightly around the shoulders and noticing that he had a new cologne. 

"Good to see you again, traitor." Niall said it but he was smiling in a way that told Louis not to be wounded.

Liam shook Louis' hand next, dressed in what he probably wore to work because he'd just gotten off his shift. Zayn was dashing in a skinny tie and decent suit, one less ring than Harry on his left hand and his tattoos hidden. 

"Still hate me?" Louis was asking Zayn this, shocking the latter with such a question. 

Zayn blinked a few times and was at a loss for words. Niall rolled his eyes and swatted his arm for no manners, while Harry gave Louis a gentle kiss for being so skilled at unnerving Zayn. Edward caught Louis' eye when they turned their party around and winked at his boy discreetly.

"This is cosy." Niall commented about their booth once they're seated in it. 

He wasn't wrong. Harry had gotten them seats that's away from the general customers who were wealthy enough to afford the outrageously priced food here. Niall sat between Zayn and Liam but across Louis, who had no choice but to slot himself between his protective husbands. 

"Yeah. I like it." Louis crossed his legs and snatched a bread stick from the centre of the table. It was warm and toasty. "So tell me everything I've missed."

Niall briefly squinted at him before his expression relaxed into an unsuppressable smile. "Well, I do have news."

"Tell me." Louis stopped breaking apart his bread stick to look at his friend curiously. "What news?"

Zayn and Liam had their noses buried in their menus just like Harry and Edward but they all heard Louis' stifled exclamation. "Oh my- _Niall!_ "

Louis stood up from his seat and that's when his husbands started to pay attention. They looked at what enraptured their petal enough to lean across the table and settled back when all it turned out to be was an engagement ring on Niall's finger. Harry and Edward didn't care for it but they're so sure Louis will ramble all night about it. 

Having upset the natural calm of the restaurant, Louis had drawn all the attention to their table. People looked their way and Edward chuckled behind his menu while Harry threatened each one of them without a word. Louis hugged Niall over the table and his excitement bubbled when Liam didn't reject his hug.

"I'm not just high fiving you, Malik." Louis insisted Zayn hug him and he knew his friend's fiance didn't hate him still because of the profoundly muted smile tugging on his lips.

He sat back down and Edward made sure to clasp his thigh under the table, grounding him with a warning. Harry's hand circled as much as it could of Louis' other thigh, both their expressions unreadable. Louis knows the twins didn't like when he touched other people.

"You're safe, petal. Don't look so startled." Edward leaned closer to whisper in his ear, a chuckle of his running chills down Louis' spine.

"I love you, baby." Harry went so far as to meet Louis' weak spot with his plump, cherry lips. 

With that worry of his no longer hanging over his head, Louis can cross his legs on the seat and still shiver when both hands on his legs slid more securely on his inner thigh. They were perfectly timed with each other despite being two different people; their thumbs rubbed over Louis' tight trousers in the same pattern at the same time. 

"Tell me everything." Louis took Niall's hand over the table and examined the diamond on a gold band. "How did they propose?"

Niall narrates to him an elaborate story about how they all forgot to pay the electricity bill for their apartment and sat on a picnic blanket in the kitchen with tea light candles. They ate pizza from the box and Liam had blurted the question out over a can of soda they were sharing. Zayn then promptly punched him in the chest - Louis laughed at that - and redid the proposal more thoroughly.

"I love that story." Louis giggled at the conclusion when Liam looked awkward as ever. "We should order now though. I'm starving."

"I agree." Niall finally picks up his menu and immediately scrunches up his nose at all the illegible choices. 

Louis drops his head onto Harry's shoulder, smiling when he feels the man's lips reach his forehead. He shares a menu with his husband from starters to dessert, letting Harry read the French titles of dishes in a fluent accent. It was smooth and very appealing to hear.

They chat - just Niall and Louis - over creamy pea soup and Louis stealing lettuce from Edward's salad. Eventually Edward left all the lettuce for him and Harry let's him have all his Feta cheese blocks. Louis didn't order his own starter but it was a quirk of his to steal bits from his forgiving husbands.

He convinced Niall to tell him all the theories they have planned for the wedding, from possible cake flavours to appetisers. It isn't going to be big but Niall wants it to grand enough to cover for both their marriages. Louis didn't hear this from him but Niall secretly planned to have a second cake at the wedding.

"How's work been for you, Liam?" Louis swirled the crystal gold in his champagne glass. Edward had been honourable enough to purchase the most expensive bottle the restaurant possessed in lieu of the engagement announcement.

"Tough." Liam replies honestly, pausing the process of cutting through his steak. "We handle three cases a day."

"Really?" Louis chews on a mixture of spinach and chicken. "Last I heard, you were going to be promoted."

"Yeah." Liam nods with a courteous smile. "I'm an inspector now."

Everyone continues with their meals, sparse breaks in the silence for chatting when need be. Harry's hand ended up linked with Louis' for the boy to play with all his rings, their wedding band included. The items of jewellery were much too heavy for Louis. Edward wore no rings after wedding Louis, just the one that tied him to the wonderful boy. 

"You three are still very cosy." Niall is scraping the last of his white chocolate mousse off the serving glass. "I hope you're not doing something awful under the table, Lewis."

Louis winked at his friend to spur on all assumptions and saw Liam turn a little pale. To set the record straight for the sake of Liam, he holds up one of Harry's mightier rings as an explanation. Edward kisses his forehead then but first allows the sharpness of his canines to show because of how uneasy it made Zayn.

"Cosy is an apt description both of my betrothed cannot actually cuddle." Louis sets his cheek on Edward's shoulder, his hand wrapped around Harry's middle finger. 

"I hear you on that." Niall agrees with him, earning outraged looks from both his fiances. "Don't look at me like that."

"So-" Louis feels his second glass of aged wine getting to his head at last, prompting a little laugh from him. "-shall we dance?"

Harry is the only one who agrees from his side and Louis loves him _so much_. His other husband is content to get a scowl from him before Louis pulls himself away. Harry accompanies Louis to the floor designated in the middle of this posh establishment where few couples were already swirling.

Somewhere between Harry reeling him in against his chest with a smirk as deep as his dimple and Louis trying not to giggle like a teenage girl, the latter realises that he ditched his shoes at the table. "My-"

"I know." Harry shut him down and held him close, an arm snaking around Louis' waist dangerously low on his back. He takes Louis' hand and kisses his petite lover's forehead. "Don't bother with it now."

Louis actually does giggle, the alcohol over ruling the higher brainpower he possesses. "You're so laid back, you know that? I love you."

Harry can only chuckle in Louis' ear when the boy leaned on his chest, leading them in small circles. "I love you as well, petal."

The music is mellow but Louis is so full of life. He has the brightest eyes and has risked tripping in just socks twice already, his smile so broad and innocent. "Can we get me a toffee apple?"

"Shh." Harry laughs and restricts Louis' volume control. "I'll get you a toffee apple, baby."

"But from where?" Louis enquires, face inches from Harry's and those spellbinding green eyes. 

"I'll make it myself if I have to." Harry fans his fingers out on Louis' hip, his freelancing little finger making it to the curve of Louis' bottom. "It shouldn't be hard to find though."

Louis hums and watches Harry look around the room before his attention returns to him. The song changes from the soft speakers above their heads and Louis notices that Niall succeeded in dragging Liam onto the dancefloor. They're a short distance away now but Louis and Harry were the only couple under the fairy lights for a long enough while.

"Will you twirl for me?" Harry asks him, his hand wrapped Louis' and their chests flush against one another. 

"No." Louis pouts so his husband can see how serious he is. "I'm not a girl, much less a gypsy."

Harry would have laughed uproariously had they not been in a restaurant with several eyes observing them. He still let's the humour reach his eyes. "I know you want to be twirled, petal."

Louis blushes. "I do."

"I don't know why you fight me, baby." Harry conducts the deed of raising his arm so Louis can twirl once, still nervous about doing it in public. "There's no need to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid." Louis replies saucily, spinning once more before returning Harry's arms when the man has such a proud grin just for him. 

He gets a sweet peck on his pursed lips and Harry continues down to his neck. "I'm proud of you, petal."

"I wouldn't have done that two years ago." Louis sniffles and almost yawns. "We should enter a dance competition."

"Do you think we're that good?" Harry raises an eyebrow. 

Louis let's his fingers get lost in Harry's curls, breaking their posture to be closer to his husband. "I like your hair."

"Yeah?" Harry chuckles and chooses to wrap both his arms around Louis. He kisses the tip of Louis' nose. "I like you, petal."

"Well I'm glad because we're married." Louis rolls his eyes exasperatedly. "Don't tell Edward I'm not wearing shoes."

"And why shouldn't I?" Harry knows why but his petal is slightly drunk so why not ask anyway? 

"Because he'll never let me get a toffee apple." Louis puckers his lips and Harry grips him by his chin, kissing those rosy cushions slowly to taste them. 

"You two have been able to get every set of eyes in here tonight to watch you." It's Edward and Louis' intoxicated state becomes a little panicked. "May I have my turn?"

Harry kisses Louis' cheek and gracefully hands him over to Edward. Louis chews his lip from the start, setting one hand on Edward's shoulder and pulling himself closer. By now, Zayn's also swapped with Liam and two other couples were brave enough to join their disastrous rendezvous.

Edward's cologne is subtle spices and musk, his dark emerald orbs inching closer to Louis. His arm is much firmer around Louis, more _rough_ in utilising his strength than Harry who cared for gentility. Edward gripped him and it _bruised_. 

Louis looked up at his lovely but scary husband and moves in the motions that he's guided through. "I'm wearing shoes, you know."

"I know, petal." Edward bursts into a soft laugh, dimples making an appearance. 

"Edward?" Louis is on his tiptoes, supported by Edward's hand pressing harder and harder into the dip of his back. 

"Yes, petal?" Edward sways Louis' hips in a way he'll get away with only because of Louis' slight drunkenness. This boy was enchantment embodied.

"Do you love me?" Louis asked, sugary sweet and soft. 

_"Baby."_ Edward nuzzled Louis' neck and tightened the hold of every finger on his husband, feeling the skin bruise and the owner sigh. "How can you ask me that?"

Louis pouted and Gave Edward a kiss, their lips meeting in a fierce entanglement that renders him more than thrilled. Instead of allowing himself to be publicly defiled, Louis wrapped his arms around Edward's neck and gave him an Eskimo kiss.

"Just checkin'." He pecks Edward's cheek and blushes at his husband's smirk. 

"You're so tipsy, petal." Edward let Louis hang off him because of his state and gently rocked him from side to side. "A little bit of alcohol just goes straight to your head."

"That's mean, Edward." Louis mumbled petulantly, a little childishly even by his tone. "I can handle my liquor as well as anyone."

"Not _mean_ at all, baby." Edward nuzzles Louis' neck after nudging at him to arch the golden expanse of skin his way. "Just the truth."

"I have to go to work tomorrow." Louis inhaled deeply and relaxed into the scent of his protective, tastefully barbaric and overbearing husband wrapped all around him. "Don't let me go."

"You know that I am not my brother, petal." Edward reminded him, sweeping them right underneath the grand chandelier. "You must go to work to keep yourself busy."

"I know." Louis hooks his chin over Edward's sturdy shoulder, the same shoulder that's one of two meant to support and love him always. "Thought it was worth a shot."

Harry was the brother that was happy to keep Louis bundled up with him and some crap television show that was illegally downloaded. _Edward_ thrived more on ensuring that Louis never became complacent and continues to push himself forward.

"I-" Louis sneezes thrice consecutively, muffling them with his hand as they racked his brain and shocked his lungs into shrivelling up. 

"This has been enough of you dancing without shoes." Edward slipped his hands lower to Louis' thighs and suddenly picked him up off the ground. 

Louis' legs were swept out from under him and his thighs got hooked over Edward's hips. It was so abrupt that Louis squeaked and let himself be lifted while he wiped away the tears from his red-rimmed eyes. He caught onto Edward's shoulders tightly for support.

The rest of the patrons at this fine restaurant do the unpredicted and break out into applause. They spook Louis a little and he almost falls over but Edward clutches his sides tighter to walk him off the dancefloor.

  
* * * * *  


"I'll see you soon, Ni." Louis hugs his best friend when it's time for them to go their separate ways.

"You better." Niall buttons the top tab on the jacket of Zayn's that he's got draped over his shoulders. "I'll text you."

The night is a giant cloud over them as they get into two different vehicles, Louis climbing into the back-seat of Harry's Jeep and dragging the other brother in with him. Edward gives Louis his most dazzling smile when he sits, letting his vibrant husband clamber onto his lap.

"Hi there." Louis kicks his shoes off and straddles Edward's thighs, guiltlessly rocking himself closer to the man with his hips.

"Hello, darlin'." Edward kisses Louis' wrist when the boy starts thumbing at his earlobes.

Harry gets into the front driver's seat and switches off the light that illuminates all of the Jeep's innards. He can hear Louis' giggles and rolls his eyes fondly, well informed of their petal's behaviour when drunk.

"You're pretty scary sometimes." Louis sits back on Edward's thighs, his fingers tracing without touching the outline of the man's teeth.

"I am?" Edward is so amused by Louis that he can't suppress his laughter anymore, shoulders shaking and pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"Yeah." Louis' cheeks turn a lot pink when Edward's palms turn to cup his behind firmly. "Like a shark."

"A shark, petal?" Edward nipped at Louis' finger.

His teeth fit so perfectly together that whoever filed them had to have been a professional. Not a single one chipped or was less than clean white. They were frightening when he was sleeping and his jaw went a little slack; Louis had to wake up to his dagger molars as the first thing he saw.

"Are you not tired yet, petal?" Edward let Louis shift, squirm and twist until he was comfortably cradled against his chest. 

Louis buried his face in Edward's neck, creasing the man's collar and tracing the tattoo of an strange symbol. "Can we get my toffee apple now?"

"Tomorrow." Edward promises. "Do you know how late it is?"

"Very?" Louis offers quietly. "That's not _my fault_."

"No, it isn't. However it does mean that you need to sleep as soon as we get home." 

Louis doesn't do as planned as soon as they get back to their apartment. He showers and shaves all the places that need it, before putting on his simplest sleep wear. Edward went into the bathroom while he was in the closet so Louis got to slip out of the bedroom uncaught. 

Harry was in the kitchen watching the microwave ready something for him, dressed in boxers only because he showered first. Louis roamed into that room and gave Harry a kiss. "What are you up to?"

"I'm making popcorn." Harry watched Louis pour himself a glass of water speculatively. 

"Why?" Louis frowned after rinsing the glass. He was a lot more sober and his head hurt a little but he's sure he heard correctly. "Aren't you coming to bed?"

Harry heard the beep and tore open the packet of butter flavoured popcorn. He dumped all into glass bowl. "Not immediately. I don't feel tired yet."

"Oh." Louis looks hurt and Harry _knows_ he's pretending but his petal is so dear to him.

"Come on, baby." Harry loves the way Louis' face lights up when he offers the boy his popcorn bowl. 

The television is already on and Louis pushes Harry down onto the couch before crawling in beside him. Harry sighs and plants a wet kiss on Louis' neck before tangling their legs together. He pulls the fleece blanket down over Louis' bare legs and then up to their chins.

"You're about to get me a fuck ton of trouble, petal." Harry roped an arm possessively around Louis' waist and let his hand glide over the smooth skin of Louis' thigh.

They watch the remaining twenty minutes of _American Horror Story_ before the next episode of the new season can start. Louis falls asleep during the credits and it's for the better too considering that Edward comes out of the bedroom looking like a force to be reckoned with.

"He's asleep. Leave him alone." Harry feels Louis shift against him, lazily drawing the fleece cover up to conceal half his face. 

"Fine." Edward raked his fingers through his hair and tapped on his phone with one hand. 

He came around the couch to kiss Louis goodnight on his forehead then Harry's lips. Edward leaves them on the couch to stride back into the bedroom, taking a bottle of water with him. He was the one of them that woke up at random ungodly hours feeling parched and desperate.

The next day, Louis wakes up at six when an alarm goes off next to his head. He almost screams and falls off the couch but realises upon rubbing his eyes open that he's between two familiar bodies in their bed. After a shower and an hour of tiptoeing around so as not to awaken the men still asleep, Louis makes himself a breakfast of toast. 

"Good morning." Louis greets the husband of his that walks into the kitchen with half closed eyes and temporarily freezes when Louis pecks his lips. "Tired, are we?"

Edward grunts miserably and fixes his mug of coffee with robotic hand movements. He had to wake up with Louis to drive the boy to work everyday, the decision being his own. Louis hopped up on the counter in his formal shirt for the day but no pants, torturing Edward with his inability to experience a hangover.

"Are you and Harry going to do anything today?" Louis asks when Edward comes to stand between his thighs, dusting his fingers off with a towel. 

"Sleep sounds fuckin' fantastic." Edward took a gulp of his coffee and Louis massaged his temples lightly. 

Louis finishes up his breakfast and goes to complete his mission of getting ready while Edward whips up something to eat. He walks into the bedroom and Harry is still dozing, his soft snores pressed into the pillow he smashed whilst lying on his front. There's an array of clothing to choose from but Louis finds himself picking a simple blazer to cover his shirt, no tie and jeans instead of trousers.

He grabs his laptop off the dining room table with the documents he'll need for the day, stuffing them all neatly into his bag for the day. Edward meets him by the door in slacks and no shirt, jiggling his keys on purpose to antagonise his headache.

"Have a good day, baby." Edward kisses Louis when they're parked outside his office building. 

"Hmm." Louis licks his lips and gathers his things from the back. "Don't you dare forget me."

Edward forces a laugh and opens Louis' door for him by simply leaning over. "Get going, petal."

"So eager to be rid of me?" Louis loosens the strap of his satchel. "Is something wrong?"

"Fuck, baby!" Edward's laugh is cynical and unkind. "Get out of the damn car."

Louis is shocked by the sudden fit of rage and his expression undergoes a fury of emotions, the last one being the one to stick. Hurt. He hurries out of the Jeep after that without saying anything further, aware that his day ahead is already spoiled and he doesn't know what he's done wrong.

He walks into his office without greeting Doris and slams his door shut shortly after her confused glance. Dumping himself in his seat, Louis sniffles and tries not to pout his morning away. He gets up again to ask Doris to fetch his coffee from Starbucks and hands her cash to pay for it. She hands him the work he missed yesterday, tasks for today and what is set to be due.

Edward's voice haunts him the entire day, the nagging at the back of his mind saying he shouldn't have gotten out of that car. Something was _wrong_ and he ought to have remained to find out what it is. They're married now and that's their duty to one another.

Louis completes the simplest work first. He signs the contracts to lease new equipment for the houses under his control, meets with one of his many clients and then two more before signing off on his break. Doris puckered her lips at him when he walked out and Louis rolled his eyes to amuse her.

The deli he always visits for lunch is busier than he remembers and the waiter he sees serves him his sandwich. Upon unlocking his phone, Louis sees three missed calls all from Harry. He first dials Edward with the straw of his smoothie between his lips.

"Hello?" Comes the rough voice through their strong connection, none of the _edge_ in his voice being the latter's fault.

"H-Hi." Louis suddenly feels nervous, clearing his throat and sitting up straighter in his seat. "I was hoping we could talk about this morning."

"Petal." Edward sighs. "Not now. Aren't you working?"

"I'm on my break." Louis replies, a little proud to have that to say. "I'm worried, Edward."

"Worried? Why would that be?"

Louis would glare at him if Edward were present, wipe his smirk right off his face. "Because my husband's being a jerk."

"Oh yeah? Which one?" He hears a metal click of something igniting and Louis recognises it as a lighter.

"Are you smoking?" Louis is almost surprised if it were true. 

Edward smoked so rarely that it only occurred around times he was utterly stressed out. Louis gets no response from his husband and it makes him feel thinly spread.

"Love." Louis sighs dejectedly and brushes his hair back with a fleeting sweep of his hand. "Can you come meet me?"

He expected an argument of regal standards but all Louis heard was Edward's grunt of good showmanship. "Alright then."

Louis sits empty at hand for two seconds whilst finishing up his banana milkshake and the cold meat from his sandwich. He chews mindlessly on the tough shredded meat and dials Harry's number using just his thumb. 

"Petal?" Harry answers with, a smile already plastered to his features. It's audible in his words.

"Hi." Louis clears his throat and bites his lip. "You called me so much. What's up?"

"Nothing exactly." Harry sits himself down on the couch with a can of iced tea. "I never got to see you this morning."

Humming, Louis straightens his back and smiles down at his curled fist. "I admit that wasn't in our best judgment."

"That's irrelevant now, petal." Harry chuckles. "I will be seeing you after work today."

"Do you think-" Louis sucks in a sharp breath. "-we could go out for a drink?"

"How necessary is that drink?" Harry swallows a slightly obnoxious slurp of his beverage. 

"Very." Louis let's his lips vibrate as he exhales slowly. "Please?"

"Sure thing, baby." His husband agrees with a teasing little smirk. "I'll pick you up from work?"

"Okay. Love you." 

"I love you too, baby." Harry hangs up before Louis can.

Louis looks up just briefly and sees none other than Edward walking into the deli in his infamous grey trench coat, brown leather boots and clingy black T-shirt. It was a breathtaking sight for Louis; the man he married is utterly _gorgeous_ and Louis' heart skips a beat. Despite their kerfuffle this morning, Louis still goes weak at the knees and light-headed whenever seeing how _lucky_ he got.

"Edward." Louis got up from his seat before Edward made it to him, and grabbed onto the man's wrist. 

The expression to read on Edward's face is confusion masking infuriation, but he let's Louis hold onto him. He gets dragged around the corner of the deli's counter that leads into a passageway. It's the restroom that hardly any patrons knew about that Louis pushes the door of open, tugging Edward in behind him.

"We're here what for, pet-" Edward is cut off when Louis presses him against the door and covering the man's lips with his own.

It's an automatic reflex to catch onto Louis' hips and grip him _tightly_ where it will bruise. Edward holds him terribly close, grinding the boy's front against his to mould their bodies together. Shuffling behind him, Edward locks the door and reaches over to slap the clothed cheek of Louis' bottom.

"You called me here for this, petal?" Edward took Louis' bottom lip between his teeth and suckled on it, bruised the cushion until it throbbed with racing blood.

"No." Louis gasps when Edward's palm comes down on his bum again, concentrated frown on his husband's expression as the man flips them over. "I want you anyway."

Edward smirks against Louis' lips and reached under to hike the boy's thighs up on his waist, desperately feeding on Louis' essence. The boy wraps his arms around his neck and pulls him in until they're tangled together and going nowhere. Louis forces his tongue into Edward's mouth and briefly battles for dominance.

"Don't be upset with me, Daddy." Louis pecked Edward's lips repeatedly, at the end of eight tries letting his tongue flick over the seam of those plump lips. 

"Fuck, baby." Edward brings his mouth to Louis' neck where he induces whimpers, moans and whines from sucking too harshly on the boy's sweet spot. "I'm so sorry, petal."

Louis pouts and Edward effectively ends his tirade with a nip to Louis' cheek. He sets Louis down again and hastily begins unbuckling his belt, his hands getting slapped away by Louis' boldness. The boy peeks at him devilishly and gets down on his knees before Edward can stop him.

"Hmm." He took Edward's growing erection out of his boxer briefs and pumped his fist over the hard skin. 

The air thickened extremely fast, plummeting down to sub-zero levels where Louis was radiating arousal. He kissed the tip of Edward's stiff c*ck, letting the bubble of precome get licked off by his tongue. The man groans and falls back against the door, his hand restricting Louis' movements by grabbing his hair. 

Louis kisses from Edward from the bulbous head, along the bulging vein down to the base. He nibbles and teases Edward's balls, rolling them between his fingers and suckling gently on each one of the two. Edward watches Louis run his tongue back to the top of him and engulf him with his pretty little mouth.

"Such a beauty, petal." Edward _thrived_ on the heat surrounding his length and observes Louis' sinful bounces as he tries to take it all.

Louis gags on the c*ck unable to make it all the way down his throat. He holds onto Edward's hips with both hands and forces himself to take as much as he can without causing injury. The taste is bitter and heavy on his tongue, a solid weight resting in his mouth. 

"Look at my slut on his knees for me." Edward pushed Louis' hair back on his head and pushes him down the length of his c*ck some more. 

Sputtering with stinging tears in his eyes, Louis swirls his tongue around Edward's tip. He hummed to send shivers and chills up Edward's spine, so bobbing his head on the presence in his mouth. Edward started moving his hips back and forth, starting to fuck Louis' mouth with effortless slides.

Blue eyes, deep and a little strained from the near crying, peer up into Edward's dark, lust-filled orbs. Louis pops off Edward and licks his bubblegum red lips, peppering kisses along Edward's hip bones and working down back to his c*ck. 

Louis was always like this when he sucked off one of the twins. He was greedy and sloppy in a way that knocked them both off their feet. Excitement was key and Louis was thrilled to be the one that gave them pleasure. He was their _baby_ but very often was he their precious slut who climbed onto their laps and gave himself to them.

Edward had enough of this. He was about to come if Louis didn't give him space to breathe. 

"Stop, petal. Enough." Edward grunted when Louis delayed the process of extricating himself. 

He gets to his feet again and attaches his mouth to Edward's before the man can distract him. Edward growls from Louis' harsh bite to his bottom lip, blood singing in his veins as his petal got rough with him. Louis tasted blood in his mouth and smirked when Edward touched his lip to see the crimson traces.

"Come here, sweet boy." Edward threw an arm around Louis' shoulders and bites down on the boy's neck to punish him.

"Daddy." Louis licks Edward's jaw and mewls helplessly when his husband nibbles on his skin, red blotches left behind on old scar tissue. "I don't like fighting with you."

Edward hums and extents his arms down to the back of Louis' jeans. He yanks the piece of clothing down to rest midway down Louis' lovely thighs. Reverently he ran his hands up and down those warm mounds of supple flesh, nails scraping and fingertips worshipping. The red scrapes and scratches left on Louis' body are stinging and fresh. 

"Neither do I, baby." Edward hid his face in Louis' neck and forced himself to pull away, taking Louis to the spotless wall on their left. "We're going to talk about it when I'm done with you. Done fucking you _properly_."

Louis whined and his head hit the wall with a thump, energy soaring through his body. He clutched Edward's curls as his husband worked his mouth from neck to clavicle, leaving wet patches in a shining trail on his skin. Each kiss was a mercy and each nibble was purposeful.

"Look at me." Edward curts when Louis dare get distracted by the blissfulness. 

He dropped Louis' pants and underwear to a pool around his ankles before picking up the owner by his knees. Louis locked his ankles around Edward's back and stares back into those charmless, twisted green eyes that whipped him into the eye of a storm. Edward lifted Louis' legs higher, folding him against the wall with the boy's knees almost at his ears.

The only preparation Louis got was two slender fingers hastily pushed past the tight muscle of his entrance. He hissed from pain and the stretch with those appendages working sloppily inside him, just spit to lubricate them. Edward scissored his fingers inside him, forcing Louis to open his body further and bare himself more thoroughly. 

"Stop, _stop_." Louis reached between his legs and tugged on Edward's wrist, eyes blinking the burn of tears away to focus his vision. 

Edward's chest was plastered to Louis'. One hand gripped the boy's hip and the other tore away from between Louis' hole. "Don't make me stop now, petal."

"No, just-" Louis arched his back and bit his lip, bunching up Edward's shirt in his hands and eagerly rolling his hips forward. "Get _in_ me, Daddy."

"Yeah." Edward breathed, his tongue presenting itself to swipe across his lower lip. "You're so desperate like this, baby."

Louis got what he wanted just after Edward's smirk grew into something obnoxious. He would roll his eyes at the man but the thick c*ck nudging its way into him was far more than a _distraction_. Edward slid both hands down to cup and knead Louis' spread cheeks, slathering all the boy's moans with grunts of his own.

Edward was buried to the hilt, engulfed and enveloped by tight heat that was just for him in this moment. He felt kisses from a pair of soft lips making its way up to his jaw, cheek and eventually letting their mouths unite. Louis' hands framed Edward's face, not soft enough were his whines when Edward pushed impossibly deeper.

"Move." Louis gasped, nails creating bloody half-moons on Edward's back. 

Who was Edward ever to disobey this creature? He pulled out and slammed back in so fluidly that it rattled Louis' bones and slapped the toned skin of his behind. Louis let his jaw hang agape in a frozen scream and handled the scathing frozen touch of the wall on his partially bare skin well. Edward thrusted precisely and uncovered his prostate immediately, knowing Louis' body better than anything else.

Edward breathed harshly down Louis' neck while he moved his hips, slow and solid thrusts. He didn't want to fuck here, not as much as he wanted to savour his shuddering petal in his arms. Edward is fiercely unbreakable but _fuck_ did he feel weak attached to Louis. His energy came from Louis, his explanation and reason to still be here came from whenever he got to love his petal.

"F-Faster." As much as Louis enjoyed the generously slow movements of a girthy, throbbing and improperly lubricated length inside him, he wanted to have his thoughts fucked out of him.

"No." Edward bit Louis' scar when he whined, hiking the boy's legs higher and made sure to strike deeper, harder. "You are lovely, petal. I-I want to enjoy you."

Louis let it happen to him. Each thrust was sacred and sanctioned by love for one another. Edward kissed him and Louis heard fireworks, tasted sparks between their urgent tongues and felt butterflies in his gut. He tightened his arms around the man's neck and stopped rolling his hips, wanting Edward to have all the control.

Edward took it in his stride. He held Louis up and continually used Louis' body for pleasure. In and out, repeating it without a stutter or fault. He orchestrated the finest rhythm of their bare bodies, joined and in love. Louis had pressure on his bruising walls and friction on his length that's brushed against between them. He started to pant into Edward's mouth, their eyes connecting in a chase.

Louis was too close and he felt his orgasm grabbing onto his body. He curled his hand around Edward's neck and shivered as waves of intensity raked through him. "I-I'm- Close, Daddy. Pl-"

"Yeah, baby." Edward spoke raggedly. He was holding onto Louis' thigh and lower back in a way that's possessive and hopeful. 

One of Louis' legs were dropped and made to wrap around Edward's waist. He made an uncharacteristically sharp, high-pitched whimper with his head thrown back and a powerful shudder tearing through him. His orgasm was powerful and Louis couldn't get a handle on it or the ringing in his ears it left behind.

"That's it, baby." Edward took hold of Louis' c*ck after white ropes squirted onto his abdomen, coaxing more from his lover. "Give yourself to me."

Louis went rigid as Edward milked his orgasm. He was warm and torn up inside, clenching around his husband's c*ck to get his climax from him. Edward hissed and he nearly marked up Louis' insides with blood from torn tissue but came hard pressed right up against the boy's prostate.

Edward growls, uptight and splitting open at the seams. His palms make a loud smack when they land soundly on Louis' hips and he forces himself onto the boy. A frown etched onto his features and his heavy breathing, ringlets of silver curls framing Edward's face. Louis could _scream_ and not care about being heard because he's got one of the two most beautiful men in the world physically tied to him. 

Their silence just afterwards, the time they're supposed to spend lost in post coital glow, didn't last long. Edward kissed a path to Louis' cheek and pulled almost all the way out of his husband. He was noble and wanted to remain where he was, entrusted with his petal's affection. 

"Stay in for a little while." Louis read his mind and didn't allow Edward the space to pull out. 

"I love you, petal." Edward watched Louis' smile turn all the emotions expressed on his visage into fondness, their foreheads pressed together and bodies entangled. 

"I love you." Louis hugged Edward though the act did little for elevating their intimacy. "You broke my heart this morning when you were upset and wouldn't tell me why."

Edward grumbled in self-hatred and felt it bloom in his chest. "I apologise, my petal. I'm sorry for treating you that way."

"It's alright now." Louis beamed like a little minx. "You made it up to me well enough."

" _Well enough?_ " Edward mocked his voice and cleared the strands of hair from Louis' eyes. "I fucked you _well enough_?"

Louis giggles and it lights up all of his features. He leans forward to rest his elbows on Edward's shoulders. "Take me home now. I'll tell the office I'm not feeling well."

"Petal-" Edward sighs when Louis is let down on his own feet, standing half-naked and conflicted. "Petal, listen to me."

"Yeah?" Louis looked up from buttoning his jeans, wincing at the dreadful feeling of wetness between his cheeks and leaking out of him. 

He notices the infliction of something pained gracing Edward's features and stops all his motions. His husband sucked in a sharp breath when Louis reached out to touch his cheek, his wedding ring glistening under the attention of the fluorescent lighting.

"What's wrong?" Louis asks softly, brushing Edward's hair behind his ears and cupping his jaw. 

Edward leans into Louis' hand and cups the smaller hand of his petal with a larger palm. He leans down to kiss Louis' lips, wasting time to do it twice. 

"Don't- Don't hate me, petal." Edward failed to be gradual when he caught the side of Louis' face in the palm of his hand and brought the boy's lips closer to his. "Don't do anything but love me."

Louis opens his mouth to respond with words of his obvious confusion and concern. That is stopped because of Edward's earnest attempt at speaking his mind.

"The reason I was upset this morning, petal." Edward parts his fingers over Louis' chin, his thumb pressing into Louis' right cheek and his four fingers on the left. "Do you remember Dexter? Our father?"

"Yes." Louis was hesitant, his subconscious flaring with doubt and fear. It fingertips turn prickly and his lips go dry. 

"He's been...- He's been trying to contact me, baby. Persistently and a numerous times in the past weeks." Edward sees Louis slipping out from his mental grip at hearing this, his walls going up all around to protect him again.

"No." Louis shook his head as he physically tried to step back, hoping the horrific revelation won't follow him there. "No, Edward. Please don't _lie_ to me. I can't-"

Edward grabs onto Louis' waist again and reels him closer, feeling just as troubled as the boy. He cradles the back of Louis' head and shields him from anything undesirable with his own body. "Shh, petal. Baby. I'm not lying to you."

Louis' breath catches in his throat, making him choke on a sob that claws up his throat from the threshold of his heart. He's got shiny tears making tracks down his face and is _trembling_ at the memory of red hair and empty eyes.

"H-How?" Louis gripped the back of Edward's shirt like a vice. He feels jittery with nerves, unpleasant and disturbed nerves. We're so far away, Edward."

"My sister, petal." Edward hurries to organise his dishevelled clothing before embracing Louis closely and petting his sides to soothe him. "I've been getting her calls from the Manor. I have to go back and deal with this."

"No!" Louis gasps and refuses, pushing away to look up into Edward's impassive gaze. "You can't go back there, Edward."

"Have you got such little faith in me, baby?" Edward chuckles to hide the frantic state in which his mind is riddled with drastic possibilities. 

"Edward." Louis squeezes the man's forearm like that alone will keep his husband here. "You can't go back to Middleston."

"Look at me, petal. Look here, baby." Edward secured both sides of Louis' face in the cradle of his palms and brings him closer so their noses are brushing and lips barely touch. "I have to go back there and I'll make things right for us, petal. You and my brother are the only family I have now, the only people I care for."

**_[A/N: Thoughts? ;D - S xx]_ **


	8. VI.

**_[A/N: The poll has decided o.O you guys are thirsty for twincest lol - S xx]_ **

"Don't go. Please." Louis begs as he has been for the past hour. 

He holds onto Edward's shoulders with both arms and won't let go of his husband. The man was set in his decision to go but nonetheless, Louis has tried. A public restroom is not at all the place to have this conversation but Louis' desperation was evident.

"Petal." Edward is holding onto his darling lover just as tightly, wrapped up in the boy that he's carrying by his thighs. 

"Please." Louis sniffles without revealing his face or expression from Edward's neck.

It caused Edward far beyond just physical pain to witness Louis scared or upset. "This won't leave us alone, baby boy. We have to take care of it now."

Louis tightens his arms and shakes his head, crossing his ankles at Edward's back. "Take Harry and I with you then. Just.....I don't want to be away from you. You can't go alone."

Edward turns his face into Louis' neck and closes his eyes, a pained frown etched into his brow. "I can't say no to you, petal. I can't but I _have to_. I will come back to you and my brother."

Louis hiccups and Edward can't tell if it's to mask a little whimper. His husband was trembling in his embrace and Edward couldn't take Louis suffering this much. He still had this responsibility to them and the decision was made. 

"I'm taking you home now, petal." Edward rubs Louis' lower back and unlocks the door. 

"No, Edward-" 

"Listen to me, darlin'." Edward slams the door shut again and pins Louis' back against it, securing the shivering boy's face in the warm cradle of his hands. 

Those green eyes were so fierce while Louis' exotic blue orbs threatened to crumble. The foundation they were built on happened to be the twins' presence, their perception of him and their marriage being solid. Louis feels like his lungs are shrivelled and wilted, like he can't _survive_ Edward being away. Harry is half his heart, but the latter was made whole for a reason.

Louis' lip quivers at the fierceness of Edward's emerald eyes that look like two separate piercings into a marred soul. He weakly clings to Edward's lapels. "Don't go, Daddy."

Edward sighs but he can't even be persistent when his boy is so broken right there in his arms. He instead kisses Louis' lips in a sweet kiss that tastes salty and he growls from tasting the boy's sorrow. 

"Come on, baby." Edward sucks in a sharp breath, letting it whistle through his teeth. "You can sit on my lap while I drive."

He didn't hear Louis argue after that proposal. Louis dropped to his own feet and linked their fingers in such a tangle that Edward's knuckles hurt from being angled so oddly. They walk out after Edward pays Louis' check while the latter nuzzles and noses at the man's shoulder. It probably looked like they weren't married to each other or were juvenile in behaviour, but Louis was lost in his worry.

It doesn't go according to plan when Edward gets in the driver's seat. Louis remains still beside him until he's settled but then closes the gap by clambering onto him. He takes the man by surprise when he adjusts the seat to move backward and straddled his thighs.

"Petal-"

"Shh." Louis pulls in a long breath and his hands start working at Edward's buckle. "Want you to _fuck_ me."

Edward is so conflicted about his current position. He first Louis undo his fly and then realises that darkly tinted windows aren't enough to give them privacy. 

"Stop, baby." Edward tries to stop the boy but Louis whines and looks at him with ardent desperation. "We can't do this right now."

Louis swoops in and crashes their lips together, kissing his husband hard and firm. He bites Edward's bottom lip and didn't let it go for the all the squeezing and pinches his husband punishes him with. Working quickly and batting Edward's hands away whenever he tries to stop him.

"Let me just- Let me do this." Louis pleads sweetly and ignores the dozens of people in plain view of their obscene escapade. 

Edward watches Louis work exceptionally quick to kick off his pants and release his c*ck from the tight confines of boxers. He laces his fingers through Edward's hair and moans loudly to the skies whilst lowering himself. Full and hardening himself, Louis gasps when his husband is fully seated and buried deep, deep inside him. Edward rubs against his walls and without lube it feels so raw, enough so that it _hurts_.

He enjoys it too much. Edward cups his bottom to position him properly, looking Louis in the eye as he bounces him lightly. Louis can't think about Edward being away, going back to the place that tore them apart so many times. He can only picture him here, where they all belong.

"Stay with m-me." Louis pants into Edward's mouth when they're sloppily kissing but the man still has to start the Jeep's engine. "I love you. Stay here, Edward."

"I love you, my petal." Edward groans from Louis' body clenching around him, getting him to full hardness despite the uncomfortable position. 

Louis grants him enough space and freedom to see the road but remains possessive. He actively rides Edward desperately, many sounds coming from him while ardently trying to solidify a grip on his husband's body. Edward's hand often found his hip and pinched or caressed the flushed skin, just as affected by his lovely boy on his c*ck. 

Anyone close enough could see their explicit position. Edward's hips jerked and Louis drew blood under his fingernails on the man's shoulders, parts of being being stretched again. It was blindingly pleasurable and he could feel it all. Each thrust to his prostate and each of two swerves on the road because he's so excellent a distraction.

"I'll kill us both, petal." Edward bit Louis' shoulder hard enough that the boy mewled and slammed down, taking all of Edward's length inside him. "Let me get us home."

Louis obeys and sits still, obediently not doing more than mischievous grinding of his hips. He kisses up Edward's neck and settles on sucking a bruise into the man's neck below his ear. Bright purple and deep red, he kissed the mark and moved to make another. Three were complete by the time Edward parked in their apartment complex and stopped him.

"Fuck, petal." Edward switched the vehicle off and pressed Louis against the steering wheel. 

The boy's back arched and Edward tore his shirt off, taking one pebbled brown nipple between his lips and fucking up into Louis. Each thrust was angled for his sweetest spot and he pounded _hard_ enough. Louis screamed when his thighs started to quiver and his hands shook in Edward's hair. His thighs were bruising red and his hole was mistreated, swollen and gaping from Edward's thorough abuse.

He was so close but Louis wasn't so concerned about his own orgasm. Edward needed to see that he was good enough, that he should be half the reason Edward doesn't leave them.

Edward's lips are rubbed red and wet from friction on Louis' chest. He comes up to Louis' ear and nibbles on the boy's earlobe whilst paralysing him with effortless thrusts. The precision of them is sinful and Louis feels himself fall apart inside, his walls close to tearing and his prostate swelling from being nailed so many times aggressively.

"Come for me, petal." Edward cupped Louis' cheek and moved their hips as one, intensifying their reasons to release. "Cream all over your pretty tummy for me, baby."

Louis didn't want to come but Edward felt so undeniably _good_ inside him, so long and thick that he left nothing unentertained. He whimpered with his head thrown back thinking about how this is where he belongs, spurting white ropes across his chest from how hard he comes.

"That's it, petal." Edward doesn't stop. He thrusts into Louis' delicious body until he comes as well, filling the boy up. Louis felt like he was choking with how deep it went. 

He was loose and exhausted, leaking all over Edward's expensive jeans. Louis slouched forward and Edward rubbed his arms, his back. He got kisses along his collarbone and nibbles on his cheek. 

"S-Stay." He managed to wrap his arms around Edward's neck and hum contentedly when it felt like he won. 

Edward looked at Louis' warm, bare skin state and drank it all in. He really did have the world's most precious creature in his life. "Alright, my sweet boy."

  
* * * * *  


Louis was put to sleep on the couch as soon as Edward brought him in. The boy was too tired but stubborn to do it himself. 

"Dream sweet, baby." Edward kissed behind Louis' ear and covered the boy with a soft quilt, all clothing down to his undies.

Harry was in the bathroom and came out with his wet hair in a bun, looking confused at the scenario before him. "Why is petal home so early?"

Edward got up from kneeling and nudged his chin in the direction of the bedroom, taking Harry with him when he entered. "I need to talk to you."

He waited for Harry to come in and shut the bedroom door behind him. The light was off and the curtains were drawn closed over the glass walls as they always were, allowing them the secrecy of darkness. Edward sighs as he thinks about ways to say it and Harry changes into decent boxers from a towel.

It takes three minutes to explain what he's been up to, how it has influenced him and Louis' reaction to it all. Harry listens without expression or response, until the end when he bites his lip. In one piercing go it starts to bleed so heavily, his green eyes blackening with a new burden. His worry radiates from his like the droplet of blood from his lip rolls down his chin.

Harry rakes a hand harshly through his hair so the tie falls away and his damp ringlets stick to the sides of his face. His chest rumbles with an unheard growl of infuriation and he steps closer to his twin suddenly.

"You can't go." He deadpans, eyes so dilated that they're all black and no green. He's angry and behind the curtain of his calm something beastly wants to hurl forward. 

"Listen." Edward secures the side of Harry's face to force such attention. "Listen here, pup."

Falling silent, Harry is still vibrating with protests and arguments. It doesn't go away no matter how soothing Edward attempts to be. He feels his brother's calloused palm against his cheek and leans into it. 

Edward meets Harry's eye and fervently battles for understanding and acceptance, piercing green on black pits. "Take care of our boy."

Harry acts up. "No-"

"Quiet." Edward doesn't let Harry interrupt him because he's _seconds_ away from resigning and if he does he'll put his family in more danger. Both hands frame Harry's face, their expressions inches away. "Don't let him go to work or _anywhere_ , okay? Ensure that he stays at home until I get back."

Harry's mind races with plenty of brain-numbing tragedies. Wide-eyed and fearful, he opens his mouth to beg as well, mirroring his older twin by grasping the sides of his face. 

"Think about what you're doing." Harry closes his eyes and whispers, shattered. "He's......- He's a monster."

Edward has the audacity to smirk and firmly shift Harry's position to kiss him on his forehead. "Our father is nothing compared to me, pup. To us."

"Edward." Harry won't let him go as yet, tilting his head up to speak against his brother's forehead. "What do I tell petal? He's going to be so upset."

"He may never speak to me again but I'd rather have that than have him at risk _at all_." Edward kisses Harry's temple and breathes deeply. "I will protect my family at all costs."

"We're your family now." Harry hugs his sibling and holds on tightly, fisting the back of Edward's jacket with both curled hands. "Are you packing a bag?"

"No." Edward clears his throat and sighs tiredly, the green in his eyes turning pale and drained. "I don't want any reason to stay. This is my home. You and petal are the _only_ ones I care for."

  
* * * * *  


Louis wakes up from a peacefully induced nap on the most comfortable couch he's ever known. It's just past four in the evening and there's a body wrapped around him. It's Harry judging by the uneven breathing and the cold feet his toes are pressed against. He rests for a bit longer facing a muted television displaying a cartoon about fearsome werewolves.

He feels the air-conditioner continuing to blast cold air uncontrollably. It chills his skin so cruelly that there are flushed goosebumps all over the surface of it. Harry's arm is banded possessively around his waist and their hands were connected, his loose and cold fingers twitching between Harry's calloused and scarred knuckles.

The back of Louis' shirt was shifted up a little on his back so his skin was in bare contact with his husband. He could close his eyes and be at peace to a degree higher than any.

"Hey baby." Harry memorised every facet of Louis' body and soul. He knew when the boy was awake, hungry, moody and pouty. 

Louis yawned from the laziness that came with just awakening from a restful slumber. He stretched with his arms pushed out ahead of his and ankles loosen from being stiff for so long. Harry's body meets his own, a flattened palm over Louis' chest and his stubbly chin scraping Louis' soft shoulder.

"How did you sleep?" Harry asks after mutely clearing his throat. His breath hitches when Louis hums and curls into a ball under their shared quilt. "Petal?"

"Sleepy." Louis closes his eyes again and arches his neck to allow Harry a spot to nuzzle. "What time is't?"

"Too late." Harry chuckles but it's doubtful and spiritless. He lightly scratches Louis' pudge with gentle fingertips and nails. "Are you hungry?"

Louis shakes his head and rolls over, allowing the cushions of their couch to protest with loud squeaks. Doesn't open his eyes, there's no need to, when he wraps his arms around Harry's neck and finds himself a home against the man. Stronger, firmer protective arms snake all the way around his waist and Harry kisses his forehead.

"Let's eat, petal." Harry encourages while Louis tries to stop him. "Anything you want."

"Not hungry, Daddy." Louis feels Harry's lips on his and smiles. "Where's Edward?"

Harry's been preparing for this gutwrenching question ever since Edward left. It hasn't been long if he counting the hours, the minutes. It tasted bitter on his tongue to lie now. "He's wanting you to eat."

Louis laughs and doesn't catch on quickly, still rubbing his eyes and getting the sleep out of them. His eyes were always so powerful, breathtaking when he's just woken up. "I guess I can go for......take-out right now."

"Wrong answer." Harry smothers his troubles with three light pecks on Louis' soft, pink lips. "But I'll accept it."

He really can't take the chance of cooking anything. _Won't_. And Louis isn't going to be in that shape either after he puts the pieces together.

"Pizza sounds nice." Louis was smiling mischievously as he suggested it, because he knew who hated pizza more than anything. 

The person who ate it because Louis wanted to see their teeth marks in the dough.

"Pizza." Harry trailed his fingers down to Louis' hip. "What about the place two streets away?"

"I like their food. Okay." Louis throws the cover off him and sits up to the silence of their dark apartment. "I'll call them."

Harry nods silently and Louis pads on frozen wooden panels to their handset, dialling the restaurant. The man follows behind him, waltzing up to the boy in the middle of his phone call and draping himself over him. Louis blushes and settles back against him. 

He pauses with his hand over the speaker. "I don't think I want to annoy Edward today. What should we get him?"

That's the end for Harry and he's bound for a breakdown if he doesn't say it out loud. He sighs, exhausted and gutted, taking the receiver and cutting off the call before Louis can say anything. By then and studying the intensity of Harry's crippled hurt, he figures it out.

"Edward went back to Middleston, petal." Harry forces himself to say, hands grasping Louis' hips and eyes anchored in the Mediterranean of the boy's eyes. 

Louis goes tense all over, arms crossed and jaw tightened. The betrayal displayed in his gaze, the hurt, is all very toxic to Harry's protective nature of him. 

"Wh-" Louis swallows with a quivering lip and doesn't believe Harry. "What?"

Time freezes over for a period of itself, all sight and sound blanking out to nothing. Louis can only see Harry in this moment, only witness the crumble of his mixed emotions and the array of pained feelings. Harry was too deep a soul and too fierce a man to be lying so vividly.

"No, he-" Louis chokes because words are _difficult_ and no air seems to find its way into his lungs. He feels light-headed and broken. "He _promised_ me, Harry."

Louis starts to struggle after that, to resist. He pushes Harry away but the man is so much broader and stricter. His attempts to escape and follow Edward all the way back to Middleston are rendered fruitless by Harry's overbearing love. Angry tears roll down his cheeks and Harry watches as they turn the boy's skin pinker, shinier.

Harry holds Louis through his sobs and gasps for air. The night is quickly closing in around them and it has no mercy for passion and adoration between those like them. Louis' heart was heavy and his chest _hurt_ , mouth dry and hands curled into fists.

Louis was drowning in the lack of oxygen in his system and Harry had him safety netted into his arms. He started experience surges of stormy emotions - hurt, pain, sufferance - until Harry tilts his head back and kisses away his troubles. It helps because Louis loves Harry so much and possesses half his heart.

"You know he has to do this, baby." Harry whispers into Louis' ear and he's trying to sound convincing by reciting Edward's own words. 

"No he doesn't!" Louis muffles his shout in Harry's shoulder and tries to breathe, tries not to lose his mind at the thought of his husband somewhere he isn't. 

Harry is strong enough for the both of them and picks Louis up by his thighs, lovingly wiping the tears away from under the boy's eyes and wetness under his reddened button nose. He kisses those extra soft lips and Louis whimpers from all his heartfelt care.

"Hush, petal." Harry slipped a hand around Louis' back and pulled them away from the pillar. "Tears are hurting your beauty, baby."

Louis sniffles right up to the couch where he's laid out again and Harry takes him onto his lap. He gets to kick his legs out under the quilt and watch the silent cartoon whilst drying his tears on Harry's chest. He closes his eyes and there's Edward's gaze falling on him, his hands on him. 

Harry is only half his consolation because he's split his heart in two when the organ was created whole for a reason.

"He'll come back soon, petal. Before you can really miss him." Harry promises his boy and kisses the top of his head. "Will you try and eat for me, love?"

Louis shakes his head but Harry forces him to look up. He captures those sweet, sad lips with his and tastes Louis' breath on his tongue. Above everything he can taste Louis' betrayal and it's the most foul thing ever.

Missing Edward is going to take a toll on Louis, Harry could tell by the already dark circles under the boy's eyes and his relentlessly numb sensations. He could hold Louis all night and never sleep but the boy needed both his life partners to be secure in his own skin.

Their relationship has grown unhealthily co-dependant. Louis was accustomed to eight hours away from the twins but anything more and he was a mess. Nobody who knew enough blamed him, for every circumstance when he was away too long he had been _taken_. The horrors that always followed spoke for themselves.

"I can't have you upset, petal." Harry blew out hot, harsh puffs of air into Louis' cool neck. 

The skin tingles and his boy mewls with an arch to his back as he tries to escape it all. Harry let's his hands travel slowly up and down Louis' bare skin under the boy's shirt, comforting him with little strokes and kisses. Louis sniffs and rolls onto his front in the form of a ball, Harry's body draped over his.

"Baby." Harry sighs dejectedly and forces his way into nuzzling Louis' neck even with little resistance. "I can't do this alone either, Lou."

Louis stiffens under Harry and turns onto his back terribly slow. When he's exposed to Harry's trepidation and what he can read in the man's expression, he feels even more miserable. How dare he make his lovely partner feel so alone in something that's hard for both of them?

He apologises by wrapping his legs around Harry's waist and pulling him down; his hands reaching up to frame Harry's perfectly structured face. His thumbs brush over the most artfully carved jawline he's ever seen and lightly bumps his nose against Harry's. It prompts a smile from Harry that dies early and Louis draws him down closer so their bodies are united.

"Daddy needs his petal?" Louis attaches his lips to Harry's jaw and lightly hangs off it, his teeth clinging to the scratchy skin. 

"Of course." Harry flattens Louis' body under his and hums at the tasteful sting left behind on his skin. "What would I be without my sweet petal?"

Louis could relax and be at ease with Harry's arms around him. He looks into that solid, dominant green and knows he can wrap himself up in Harry's embrace forever. Harry didn't want to want to tell Louis that Edward promised to call once before he switched his phone off. It will be a pleasant surprise for the distraught boy.

"Daddy." Louis sought warmth and comfort in Harry's arms tightening around him. "I'm sorry, Daddy."

Harry flips them onto their sides and cradles the back of Louis' head with his palm so the boy stays tucked in under his chin. "Please make me happy and eat something, petal."

"I don't want to." Louis whispers against Harry's Adam's Apple. "You can't make me."

It was a wry attempt at humour but unfortunately came out weaker than he intended. Louis closed his burning eyelids and nibbled on Harry's skin, the scrape of facial hair and itch of neediness making him clingy. 

"You like my food, petal. Can I make you something?" Harry offered. The task of cooking will entertain him and give Louis something to focus on. 

"Stir fry." Louis mumbled and wiggled his toes against Harry's calf. They were as cold as his fingers. 

Harry manages to succeed in getting Louis on the kitchen counter beside a chopping board laden with bell peppers and frozen chicken strips. The boy was silent for thirty minutes except for moments when Harry kissed him to make him smile. 

It still felt like wretched betrayal. The world has lost majority of its festivities and warmth, leaving just enough of the barrel's bottom that they didn't _drown_. Louis crossed his legs on the marble kitchen island and chewed on the carrot sticks Harry chopped for him.

His Harry, who was now adding the marinated chicken cubes to spiced egg noodles. He watched the man working between the stove and chopping board, pecking some odd part of Louis' face or neck. Louis sometimes forgot that he was supposed to eat the carrot sticks and ended up picking it to pieces with his fingernails.

"Baby?" Harry called to him from the stove where he was stirring the almost final product that is to be their meal.

Louis perked up at something to say or do. He looks at his husband and hops off the counter when Harry gestures for him to join him. It's a simple task to slip in between Harry and the stove, nudging his way in under the man's arm. Harry kisses his neck with a wet smack and massages Louis' hip with one hand, arms keeping Louis in close vicinity.

"Help me, petal?" Harry's chin bumped Louis' temple to encourage him and all he got was a small smile, a little victory.

Taking the wooden spoon from Harry, Louis starts stirring while Harry showers him with tiny affections. Kisses on his forehead. Harmless tickles on his waist from stiff fingertips. Louis loved each one and reacted to them all with little giggles. 

"Talk to me, darlin'." Harry curled his hand around Louis' neck and thumbed over the boy's erratic pulse. "I can't have you lost inside that head of yours."

Louis leaned back against Harry, his one free hand locking with the man's. He can feel their wedding band clanking and is taken back to the happiest day of his life. Harry makes him happy, always will. Harry _and Edward_ make him complete, give him a purpose in this life. He's been doing wrong by ignoring his present husband.

"I love you." Louis presses his lips against Harry's tattooed pectoral and nips at the inked skin. "I love you enough to suggest we do something different tonight."

Harry's hand sneaks under Louis' shirt and he rubs over the soft pudge reverently. "How _different_ , baby boy?"

Louis abandons the food that smells delicious and locks his arms around Harry's neck. To get there he has to step onto the tops of Harry's feet and connects his lips with Harry's. He tastes like carrot and Harry tastes like his constant sampling of the random additions to his stir fry.

"Why don't we pack a bag and book a hotel room." Louis' lips slot into place with Harry's, whining when he gets his lips bitten and his tongue battled to an easy loss. "We'll spend the night there. Order room service. What do you say?"

Harry smirked and that was all the consent Louis demanded. They packed too many shirts and not enough pants, left their phone chargers and everything besides one credit card behind. It was a plan to be as irresponsible as two adults can be. Harry was just glad that Louis was focusing on something else now, smiling brighter and less burdened.

They took the Jeep out of their private lot and drove to the furthest hotel from their apartment. It was bound to be pricey with how elegant the outside looked, valets at the entrance and two doormen. Harry grabbed their suspicious duffel bag and took Louis' hand, entering the vast polished lobby to make an impromptu booking.

The concierge was miffed by their disorderly appearance. Harry was only in a leather jacket and jeans, the former unzipped and revealing all his hypnotic tattoos to the world. He did receive the upper hand with an arrogant smirk when he didn't bat an eye at the outrageous prices and booked an executive suite one floor below the highest.

Once they were in their room, Louis adjusted the thermostat to a chilly degree where they'll need each other for cuddling. Harry dumped their bag on the floor and swept Louis off his feet to fall into an armchair by the panoramic window.

"The night is so pretty." Louis wiggled in Harry's lap until he was upright and astride the man's thighs, kicking off his shoes to tuck his feet under Harry's legs. 

"Petal." Harry gets his jacket pulled off his shoulders by Louis' nimble fingers. He cups Louis' bottom through the boy's jeans and looks up at him as Louis kneels over him. "All the stars in all the galaxies and nothing is ever going to be as beautiful as you are, baby."

Louis looks down at his groping husband with the most obvious blush on his cheeks. He sits back down and folds his arms around Harry's neck. "You're so full of sugar. My sweet Daddy."

Harry chuckles and one star's light causes a malevolent twinkle in his dark eye, one that tempts Louis into leaning forward so Harry is his graceful and long-limbed cushion. He gets his low hips imprisoned and strong arms band like impenetrable steel around him. 

"Your heart is _racing_ , petal." Harry's palm flattened over Louis' pectoral where he traced the outline of his boy's heart. 

"Is that a bad thing?" Louis takes Harry's left hand in his and fidgets with each ring on those slender, agile fingers. 

"Sometimes it can be." Harry is watching him so intently that Louis can feel his breath hitch. Those deep green pits of anguish and far too intricate emotions are concentrating on unwinding his nerves one by one. "Are you tired yet, petal?"

"No." Louis clears his throat and drops Harry's hand onto his lap, cuddling into the man's chest instead. "I never really feel like I'm not at home when I'm with you."

"Me too, baby." Harry kisses the top of Louis' head and smiles when frozen feet in socks tuck themselves between his thighs. "You are home, whether we have a roof over our heads or not."

"Don't say that." Louis jovially pokes Harry's ribcage. "I'd leave you if you got poor, you know."

Harry growls and bites Louis' neck over an existing scar, faint and pink. It easily elicits a squeal from the victim. "You would?"

Louis scoffs haughtily in act and kitten licks Harry's throbbing pulse. "I have expensive taste."

"Hardly true, petal." Harry squeezes Louis' hip. "Also, you can try all you want to leave us. I'd even give you a head start, but you won't succeed."

"I know." Louis' thumb circles Harry's belly button where it's exposed to the cold air and traces his exemplary abs with wandering fingertips. "I will never leave you. It would hurt too much."

The phone rings and they both stop breathing. Harry speaks first. "Go, petal."

It's Louis' lightning reflexes at the moment that has him scrambling to the floor so he can snatch the device up from Harry's discarded jacket. He rubs his knees too harshly against the expensive carpet and gets hideous gashes down the side of his thigh, back hitting the wall as he swipes his thumb across the screen.

"H-Hello?" He's out of breath and his shirt has been minutely torn, elbow burning and heart thumping but nothing feels worse than the silence he has to survive for point three seconds.

"Petal, baby." Edward's voice echoes through Louis' blistered brain, ragged and raspy like he's talking with sandpaper for a pharynx. "Why aren't you answering your phone?"

"You're dead to me." Louis sniffles from the awful cold and glares at the carpet threads. _How dare Edward be upset with him right off the bat?_

"My darling boy." Edward sighs and his breath fans over the speaker, rustling their connection. Louis hardly protests when Harry comes to pick him up off the floor. "I told you I had to do this, for all of us."

Louis gets placed delicately on the bed and Harry goes about unbuttoning his pants, face impassive. "I'll be divorcing a very noble man when you get back."

"Louis, my love." Edward frustratedly clenches his fists so his knuckles turn ghastly white. "I-"

"I miss you." Louis receives an added weight of Harry's body lying over his, the heat of bare skin resting on his adding to his greater comforts. "We miss you a lot."

Edward's breath caught in his throat. "Oh petal. Let me handle this first, baby, and I will be back with you and my brother in _a heartbeat._ "

Louis yawns from being excessively exhausted despite it being a day with little physical strain. Tears spring to the corners of his closed eyes. "A heartbeat is too long for me, Daddy."

"Believe me when I say that it's _painful_ for me to be away from you, my petal." Edward's breath whistles as he sucks an inhale sharply. "Each moment I still think of being home with my family."

 _Family_ is a loose term that they used to describe their union, but to the twins Louis was their only means of a loved one. Their mother was long lost to their clinically insane father. Even for the two of them as the strongest men Louis knows in heart and build, they can't be worthy of a lifetime's loneliness.

Louis felt too upset to be kind towards this reminder. Edward had the courage to lie whilst looking him in the eye when he knew how much this troubled him. Be it selfish but they're _married_ and he'll be damned if that doesn't mean the absolute world to him. He deserved the right to help fix this.

"Come back then." Louis gasped when Harry took to burying his face in the boy's tummy. "Come _back_ and we'll take care of this together."

"Petal, you know I can't allow that." Edward sounds more serious in the way he nearly grits his words out. 

" _Allow?_ Edward, you said it yourself that we're a family. It doesn't matter what you want to _allow_."

"Baby, I'm not fighting with you over the phone." Edward hisses, his volume rising as he clutches the phone tighter. 

Louis resigns from his argument with a tired sigh and wipes his damp cheeks for no reason. He knows he can't convince Edward of anything at this point. "Just....come home as soon as you can, okay? Be safe. I love you."

He gives the phone back to Harry immediately after he finishes so he doesn't hear Edward's response or deduce his reaction. It hardly makes it into Harry's grip before the device tumbles and falls to the floor. Harry swipes it off the ground whilst sliding his other arm under Louis' body. 

Louis can only hear snippets of Harry's conversation with Edward afterwards, most words muffled by his own skin or Harry's low volume. He combs his fingers through the man's curly, dark brown curls to entertain his silence.

"He's fuckin' angry at me, isn't he?" Edward asks about Louis to his sibling, drawing out a loud exhale.

"Yeah." Harry replies honestly. 

"Make it better for me, brother." Edward almost pleads. He's man enough to ask for a favour.

"Can't." Harry clears his throat behind a fist. "Also _won't_."

"Fuck. Not you as well, Harry." 

Harry would shrug if Edward could see him do it. "It's not like you included me in the decision-making process, you bastard."

"Since when are you so diplomatic?" Edward chuckles humorlessly.

"Have fun." Harry makes to hang up but Edward's sudden scramble to answer sufficiently makes him pause.

"How's petal now?" Edward rushes, knowing that Harry's weakness is his inability to resist talking about Louis. "Is he still upset?"

Harry doesn't have to look up from the current cradle of his head that is Louis' front to know the boy is actually still mad. His usually gentle hands are entangled tightly with Harry's hair, tugging often enough to make the scalp feel numb. 

"Yes." Harry gives Louis' torso a peck to offer peace to his boy. "You have to fix this all on your own."

Edward deliberates wordlessly for a moment before the purr of an engine ignites in his background. "I'm coming home. Right now."

"Good." Harry doesn't want to break the news to Louis yet so he remains neutral. "Why the sudden change?"

"My baby needs me at home and-" Edward mutters distractedly. "-he was also right."

"He rarely isn't."

Edward laughs at that. "He's going to have my head when I get back and I'm going to let him take it."

"That would be wise." Harry answers. "How long will it take you?"

"Two or three hours if I catch the next flight." Edward says. "I know this is all he wanted but for some reason I feel like all I'll be doing is delaying the process."

"That's exactly what you're doing. You have to decide what's more important to you."


	9. VII

**_[A/N: Okay we're going to work in reverse for this chapter. I was wondering if you guys would like to do a Q &A with me? Send in questions and I'll answer them via any network. Let me knowwww. - S xx]_ **

Louis thrashed about on the bed, where he lay on his back being devoured by pleasure that carried blistering passion. The air was thick and hot, scathing to his sweaty and bare skin. He cried out to the ceiling with all the hoarseness left in his heart, fists digging into the mattress.

Harry is unkind to him below his waist. He rests on his front between the boy's delicious thighs, quivering and flushed as they were. His lips circle the puckered rim of his lover to extract the taste he himself left behind. It is the early hours of the morning, and they haven't gotten a wink of sleep.

They've been hungry and feeding on one another's essence and passion for their colliding bodies. Louis shakes and shudders with tiny breathless screams, fingers tangled in Harry's hair as he rolls his hips sinfully for more friction. 

His husband would part his lips over Louis' near gaping entrance and continually jab his tongue against the strain of circular muscle. It drove him mad with the hot, wet prodding inside him, soon followed by his saliva dripping into him. Harry growled against him and bit him when Louis got sensitive, his third orgasm being the one that had him jolting upward.

"Petal." Harry warned, predatorial as he crawled up between Louis' legs and pushed his own hair back. 

Those plump lips of his were swollen, red and _wet_. It glistened with traces of Louis and himself, spit gathering between his lips. Louis pushed himself upward and joined their lips, moaning helplessly at his own taste.

Sticky residue was between them, clinging to Louis' skin from his prior releases. Harry smirked when his boy wrapped himself around him, weighing them both down into the mattress with no sheets any longer. He whimpered from a nip to his neck from the man, smaller hands fumbling around between them for the fullness he seeks.

"Aren't you eager, baby." Harry teases while dragging his lips over Louis' ear, hissing when two warm hands caught hold of his erection. 

He had had only one climax since he began their wild rendezvous, fucking Louis in the shower while he was bent over. His petal had the finest ass on him and Harry made sure to praise it at every hour. After ruining their bath session, Harry tossed Louis onto the bed and took him again with his posterior up and upper half pressed down.

Louis waited. He ridiculed Harry's arrogance by taking his time in connecting their bodies. Blue coalesced with green and Harry groaned deeply, his husband's hand pumping over the naked skin of his c*ck. It was heavy and throbbing in Louis' hand, the other palm clasped around Harry's nape. Their kiss is messy and uncoordinated, tongues clashing in hasty greed.

" _Fuck baby_ , you taste so good." Harry framed the side of Louis' face and slapped his distracted hand away, his rougher grasp positioning himself at Louis' entrance. 

Louis whimpered when the bulbous tip of Harry's unrelenting length pressed into him. It felt both painful and glorious. His nails scratched Harry's back, bleeding scrapes and warts riddle the muscular plane of toned skin. He breathed deeply, eyes bloodshot and wide open as they melded with emerald green. 

A beast in a man like Harry was untamed. He gripped Louis' thighs and hiked them up higher, settling them on his hips by force. The boy arched his back, forced to do so by the angle at which Harry was easing into him. Inch by inch he was filled until his throbbing, clenching insides accommodated all of Harry's commended girth.

There was no pillow under his head except for Harry's forearm, no sheets on the bed for they had been angrily kicked off. Louis relied only on Harry for comfort and pleasure, just as the man did with him.

"I want to hear you now, petal." Harry grumbled into Louis' reddened ear, hips jerking as they meet Louis'. 

He pulls himself up on his elbows and Louis whines, tugging on Harry's hair with both hands. His legs rested over Harry's, balls of his feet turning numb from the pressure. Louis swallowed thickly and waited to adjust, settling into the burn of Harry's stretching him open between his thighs.

"Open." Hary pecked Louis' lips and got him to part them, jaw slackened by a waste of energy. 

He dipped his tongue into Louis' mouth to run along the roof of it, moaning when Louis whined and sucked on the wet muscle. Louis' taste rubbed off on him as he twisted the two pebbled nipples and gently tugged to elongate them, breaking their kiss. He smirked at the boy secured under him.

Louis' eyes were glazed over with a sheen of crystalline pleasure, mellowing his emotions. "Daddy, stop t-teasing."

"I'd hardly do that, petal." Harry grabbed the back of Louis' head by his hair and dragged him further up the bed. 

He arched the boy's back by force and let saliva dribble from his mouth to Louis', biting hard enough to make Louis _bleed_ when he squirmed.

"That's it." Harry praised in a drawl, sealing his mouth over Louis'. "Fuck. So tight, petal. This ass is _mine_. _You're mine_."

Louis screams when he gets slapped right on his already bruising bottom, red bite marks from Harry's violent worship and scrapes from hard nail. The vibration causes the blushing flesh to shiver and Harry's hand print to surface in the colour of blood. 

"Daddy!" He shouted in a high pitch, throat scratchy and pained. 

When he tries to ease that strain, Harry pins his wrists down and peppers harsh kisses along his neck. Each peck was gentle but firm, pressing a little more and more into his craned neck. Harry was so good to him even when he was rough, so careful to treat all that made his petal hurt. 

_"Daddy."_ He whimpered, falling limp as Harry slowly started to round his hips. 

"That's not what I want to hear, baby boy." Harry nearly tore the thin linen beneath them with how hard he gripped it, moving his hips in small circles to open Louis up further. "Tell me- _fuck_ \- Tell me how good it feels, petal."

"So, so good, D-Daddy." He wasn't lying, couldn't lie at a time when he's body is being torn apart in the only way that he'll allow. "Want your c*ck in me a-all the t-time."

Harry's groan was pained and strangled yet angled perfectly into Louis' neck. "Yeah, baby? You'd let me fuck you like that? Until you can't sit without this pretty bum of yours remembering me?"

Louis grappled for something to hold, sharp nails finding purchase on Harry's shoulderblades. He stared up at the man looming above him, eyes filled with adoration and lust. Harry kissed his cheek and his sweaty shoulder, finally gaining the courage to retract himself in a slow glide.

"You want it, petal?" Harry asked lowly with just the head forced into Louis' body, foreskin peeled back and precome dribbling steadily into the boy's passage. "Tell me how desperate you are."

"N-Need it, Daddy." Louis locked his arms around Harry's neck, lips at the man's jaw and body jolting violently with each torturous stroke inside him.

The tissue of his clenching walls, sore and rubbed red with friction, suffered the further ill-treatment of Harry's c*ck. It was just as Louis' body memorised it to be, wide in girth and heavy enough to stake a claim deep inside him. It was the sweetest poison to have Harry stretch him open so deep inside, so possessive in how he intertwines their bodies to make love so passionately.

"Louder, baby." Harry struggled in not allowing his voice to waver, grunting as he slowly re-entered his lover.

Louis felt like the dream he always was to Harry, tight and wet heat surrounding him where he was most sensitive. Harry held onto his boy with all his strength and loved him as earnestly as he did with words and all his heart. 

"Da- I love it, _Daddy_." Louis moaned into Harry's ear, sliding his hand down Harry's back to his behind. He pulled Harry closer, deeper and choked on a gasp when Harry seated himself fully inside him. "Give it to me, Daddy. G-Give me your c*ck."

Harry's lips quirked into a devilish smirk, speeding up from his wretchedly slow pace. He brought his lips down to Louis' and let their tongues dance in a messy tangle, skin slapping skin as he started thrusting harder. Louis' breath was knocked out of his lungs as he endured the thorough execution of precise thrusts. 

"O-Oh!" Louis felt overthrown with pleasure, his end near with how it wrecked his body and shook his sanity. 

His body arched in an uncomfortable angle off the bed and into Harry's arms. He held onto the man's shoulders and let his legs fall open, those limbs of his being shocked into tiny jerks because of Harry's command over him. Louis made no noise but his jaw was slackened in a silent scream, lips loosely working against Harry's to maintain their kiss.

Their bodies worked together, stretched out as one unit in such a tangle that neither knew where one began or ended. A special bit of jewellery was newly pierced through Louis' skin at his belly, done on a whim, and Harry had to be so careful with it. He had gotten down on his _knees_ to kiss that part of Louis, to smother it with kisses.

"That's it, baby." Harry encouraged as Louis started whimpering and whining from oversensitivity. He delivered each thrust such that it met Louis' prostate, gave that special spot inside him tiny doses of electric satisfaction. "That's it, petal. Take Daddy's c*ck."

Louis hated the emptiness of having Harry pull out but enjoyed too much to pressure of having the man buried in him. His skin shone under the dim moonlight coming in through the open windows, uncovered glass panes. People in similar levels above the ground could easily look into their room and ascertain the rude happenings of their privacy. 

The edge added to their heated atmosphere was undeniably _lascivious_. Harry thrived on the obscene possibility that someone could be watching them, staring into their hotel room to disengage from privacy. Some stranger was admiring how Harry had the most beautiful creature in the world under him, obeying the instruction of his body alone.

Louis' body took three orgasms already, and he was rapidly approaching the one that will undoubtedly put him under. Already his mind was becoming fuzzy, latched onto Harry's body alone. He couldn't breathe without Harry's hands roaming a part of him, or couldn't see past the blurriness in his vision without Harry prying the warmth of his thighs apart to abuse him. 

His rim burned and ached with a perfect throb he felt the rush of energy surging through his veins as Harry's rhythm was lost and his hips slammed into Louis'. He felt the sheathing and unsheathing of his c*ck by Louis' gaping body, pounding fervently into the boy. 

"Fuck- _petal_." An angry vein in Harry's neck stuck out through his pale skin, lip bitten and bleeding as he thrusted once more and stilled. 

"Ah!" Louis felt his insides being seared with Harry's come and his body shuddered one last time before thick white ropes splattered across his front.

His orgasm ripped every wisp of sanity he scrambled to hold onto from him, let it tear away from his mind and shatter the restraint he had on himself. Harry groaned, long and loud to the ceiling, before his arms shook with his climax and he fell onto Louis.

Louis felt fuzzy. He was numb without Harry and his hands fell to his sides, eyes wide but nothing except helpless blue looking through it. Harry inside him was painful, hurting his insides already but he was _complete_ with his husband locked inside him.

"Petal?" Harry's lips peppered Louis' hairline above his forehead with kisses, ending at his chin and those sweet cherry lips. "Baby, look at me."

Louis stopped blindly staring at the ceiling and struggled to find Harry's gaze with his own. He winced from a shift inside him and whimpered when he was met with the intense green stare of his husband. Willing though not allowed, Louis wanted to touch Harry so he knew the man was real. Really all his.

"Hello there, baby." Harry's lips met Louis' in a timid, tender kiss. "Are you with me?"

"I-I-" Louis had something to say but he didn't know entirely what that was, so he mumbled and shivered instead.

"Shh." Harry reached down between their unsettled bodies and pulled his softening length out of Louis. His lips smothered the tiny whimper it withdrew from the boy. "Good boy, petal. How do you feel now?"

Louis parted his lips, a little crease on his brow as Harry kneeled and gathered some flannel off the floor. "H-Hot."

"Oh?" Harry wiped down his smaller husband's belly, careful when it came to the precious bit of sterling silver and diamond jewellery newly inserted through Louis' belly button. 

His sweet lover was so brave when he asked Harry to get a belly piercing, letting his husband choose the charm. Harry was a weak man and picked the one most suited to Louis' golden tan; it was a tiny dreamcatcher of silver and a diamond ball resting against the cut skin.

"Hush, petal. Relax." Harry pinned Louis' wrists down when the boy tried to scratch the itchy skin of his recent piercing. 

"Daddy." Louis whined and desperately fumbled with the sheets. His skin was irritable, needing to be cleaned. 

"Stay still." Harry instructs, voice firm. He gets off the bed and goes to wet the flannel, bringing back a q-tip cotton swab drenched in warm water. Antiseptic soap came in his other hand when Harry sat on the edge of the bed and his calmer eyes gazed over Louis' beautiful form in admiration.

"What a gorgeous lover I have." Harry leaned down and smiled when Louis caught him by his ears just before their lips met. "I plan to never let him go."

Louis giggled because that sound he understood and Harry gave him an Eskimo kiss, meeting his boy's lips twice more. 

"Let me take care of this now." Harry freed himself and went back to Louis' flexing tummy, giving the heated skin around the piercing many kisses. "You're gaping, baby. All pretty and open just for me."

His apt and unkind fingers played with the rim of Louis' sensitive hole, making it flutter with brief touches and pressing his thumb in. It was partially to help the boy relax and mainly to feel that gorgeous heat again.

Harry wiped Louis down with the flannel, cleaning him between his thighs and on his belly. The warm seed dripping out of him was wiped off, cleaned out of him so the boy could sleep soundly. He used the antiseptic to wipe down the area around Louis' belly button piercing, giving the jewellery a kiss that took too long.

"Ready to come back to me, petal?" Harry crawls up the length of the bed and Louis' body, dragging one comforter along with him.

Louis' fingers were laced through Harry's, and he peered curiously at the connection before his broader husband took up residence between his legs. He was more than happy to have him there and smiled when Harry's nose bumped his cheek, lips returning to Louis' ear.

"Come back, petal." Harry whispered, slow and careful because he was always so with his petal. "I need the boy I married back in my arms, baby."

He settled on his side with Louis cradled between his arms, his hand framing the back of Louis' feathery head. Many kisses were pressed to the boy's forehead and neck, fingers trailing up and down Louis' sides. He listened to Louis' yawn and squeezed his hip. 

"No, petal. You can't sleep without clearing this pretty head of yours." Harry nuzzles Louis' temple and tangles their legs, Louis' shaven ones thrown loosely over his. 

"Daddy." Louis tilts his head back under Harry's chin and his teeth graze the stubbly jaw of his overprotective husband as even now he shields Louis' body from outside harm. "I'm okay."

"Good, baby." Harry checks the expression in Louis' eyes and confirms that his own familiar sweetness has returned. "Good."

Louis closes his eyes and yawns once again, his hand meeting Harry's over his hip. His belly button was left with dry air around it so it remained untainted, his back curved to fit between Harry's shoulderblades. One pillow they shared and Louis giggled uncontrollably when his maddening husband chose to blow raspberry kisses into his neck.

"What are you doing?" Louis asked when Harry didn't stop, a hand tugging on Harry's curls. 

"Trying to prove a point, I believe." Harry mouthed at the scar on Louis' neck, teeth nipping and heart constricting. 

Louis hummed contentedly with his eyes screwed shut and wiggled his feet free of the weight of Harry's knees, instead keeping his thighs parted because of the disturbingly persistent soreness in his nether regions.

"Baby." Harry murmurs with a proud smirk. "Are you so sore, petal?"

"Maybe." Louis covered his yawn with his fist and looked out the panoramic window that allows him a free pass into the street and flickering night life. "Harry?"

"Hmm?" The response he got was drowsy, most likely slipping under already as Harry's arm crossed over Louis' chest. 

"Are you asleep already?" He cheekily asks, kissing Harry's bare and tattooed bicep.

"I'm dreaming about you." Harry's charming demeanour never expires and he kisses Louis' shoulder, working a path up to his mouth. "You and this fuckin' belly ring."

Louis laughs and returns Harry's kiss briefly. "Does it excite you that much?"

"Oh baby." Harry growled without threat and nipped at Louis' bottom lip. "After you're healed I plan to take full advantage of this new acquisition."

When he's about to respond, Louis gets interrupted by the rapid knocking on their door. He panics and the bones circling his heart clench down, squeezing the straining muscle until he can't breath or think. He's curled up further into Harry's arms, all automatic reactions to something unpredicted.

"Hush." Harry soothes him by petting his hip and drawing the covers up to conceal Louis. 

Harry seemed fearless when he wakes up from their bubble, pulls on a pair of slacks that's been dumped on the floor, and goes to the door. Louis sits up instantly, mind riddled with crimson worry and the urking danger of something _unkind_. What's the worst it could be? Who could it be? 

"Harry, no-" He tries to stop the man by rushing to the edge of the bed and grabbing onto Harry's arm. 

His eyes are so blue, so wide with concern. Harry knows who this is and wants to surprise Louis by not spoiling it early. The knocking persists and he kisses his petal's forehead before prying his arm free.

Harry rakes his fingers through his damp hair to push it out of his eyes, unlocking the door with the key card and tossing it aside before pulling it back on its hinges. He almost has no time to react when it isn't Edward, the brother whom he expected.

  
* * * * *  


_Hours before..._

Louis tried not to feel like a teenager in foolish love with the man that's stopping him from escaping this tiny imprisonment of arms. Harry had taken him out, albeit not that far away from their hotel room for it had just been the exotic animals display in the lobby that attracted them.

"Harry-" He looked over the man's shoulder, full of effort because of mere flip-flops on his feet. "Harry, the show is starting."

Somehow the short waiting period for the exhibit has led to people becoming distracted, and Harry boxing him in against a nearby wall. It's beside a fire hydrant so nobody really sees the inappropriate gestures Harry keeps making towards his little husband's posterior. 

Louis had his worst documented shirt on, compliments of Harry pinning him down and pulling it on for him. The clothing now hung just above the curve of his derriere, thinly netted instead of made from actual cloth. His pants were short and ended at his knees, his wedding ring under constant attention under the chandelier.

"Let's go then." Harry pushes his sunglasses up further the bridge of his nose, though there was no need for such an item indoors.

Sitting in the show with Harry beside him, Louis felt not as entertained as he should have been with all the effort put in by the organisers. He watches the snakes and foreign lizards but sees nothing, listens to them babble about small facts but hears nothing. He rests his head on Harry's shoulder after a while and smiled when he felt a pair of lips on his forehead.

"What's wrong, petal?" Harry's arm circles Louis' narrow, sluggish shoulders and he doesn't bother to lower his voice.

"Feeling weird." Louis mumbles in response. He feels miserable after his call with Edward, a guilty feeling welling in his chest ready to clobber his subconscious. 

"Want to get out of here?" Harry proposes, glancing at his bulky wristwatch to see the time. "It's almost ten o'clock."

"Where can we go?" Louis looks up at his smirking husband and his nose scrunches up comically before Harry pecks his button nose. 

"Anywhere you like." Harry ignores the glares of other youngsters and their parents to nip at his lover's pouty lips, pouty because he's just that pleasant when he's bored. "There's a pet store not far down the street that might meet your fancy, petal."

"A pet store?" Louis' interest perks at this suggestion. 

He hasn't seen innocent baby animals since his visit to the Farmer's Market with _Edward_ who he misses so much. It makes his heart heavy and insecure to be away from Edward, his other husband that he plans to smother with himself as soon as they're rejoined.

"Come on." Harry takes Louis' hand and helps him sneak out once the organisers have their backs turned. 

Once in the lobby after escaping a tedious exhibit, Harry takes out his phone and checks that there are no messages before leading Louis out onto the street. The cool night air hits Louis' face and rustles his soft hair so his fringe is upset, his shirt flapping against his back. 

"This way." Harry holds onto Louis' hips and directs him towards the pet store. 

Louis watches everyone on the street that's moving around them, going to or from home. He sees that not many stores are open for business due to late hour but all the pubs were, clubs and other night establishments brewing with infinite intoxicated crowds. Harry allows him to loop his arm through the steel cage of his, despising his choice of footwear.

The pet store owner is not against their visit at such an odd hour and let's them give the neglected animals some attention. Louis goes to the short enclosure where the puppies were yapping away at one another, kneeling in front of one lambradore chewing a carrot toy.

"Aw. Harry, look." Louis cooes at the little creature, scratching his muzzle and brushing his caramel fur. 

Harry would have paid attention but Louis looked back to see a parrot on his husband's shoulder, one that's tall and heavy. Sharp nails on those feet dug into Harry's shirt but the man didn't seem to mind, his thumb rubbing the softest feathers of the bird under its neck. Vibrant colours it was, red to blue and back to green.

Louis got to his feet and approached the bird perched on Harry's shoulder, laughing thoughtlessly when it takes to being possessive of the man. He can't get a touch to his husband in without the macaw parrot screeching loud enough to make him wince.

"Can't say it's easy being replaced by feathers and a beak." Louis muses, biting his lip as he struggles in not mocking Harry. 

Harry's expression sobers for a moment as he watches Louis interact with the animal on his shoulder, tempt it into flapping its wings so that they whacked the back of his head. He didn't notice much because Louis' mind is on something other than his absent brother.

Between the tireless bird and restless puppies, Louis finds time to befriend a little kitten. It had all black fur across its back except for its tummy and paws that were staunch white. The male baby cat had mismatched eyes and it had been a secret that Louis found that most appealing, one green and one dark blue.

The kitten rejoiced in rolling around on Louis' lap, in clinging to the boy's shirt so he could not be pulled off. He mewed sadly when their time was up however and Louis had to let him return to the other sleeping kittens, all seemingly not as excitable as this one.

"You smell like bird, Harry." Louis comments when they're once more on the street an hour later, and he had climbed his way onto Harry's back. 

His husband chuckled and granted himself the honour of having Louis' much desired thighs wrap around him. "I thought I was going to find no satisfaction in visiting that store but it seems like I was wrong."

Louis looked across the street as he replied. "Animals teach us a lot more than we can learn from other people."

The decision for Louis' belly piercing happens between a churro stand outside a jewellery store. There's a line they have to wait in and Louis gets his dipped in chocolate, his thin lips turning brown from how he refrained from wiping his mouth. Harry, amused by his petal's eating manner, swiped the excess chocolate off Louis' face with his thumb.

"Have you ever gotten a piercing?" Louis asks Harry while they stroll slower than any pace they've been at before, watching the flickering pink neon sign of a tattoo parlour. 

"Once." Harry answers, much to Louis' surprise. He notes Louis' flabbergasted expression with a smirk. "On my ear, petal."

"Oh." Louis lowers his head back to watch the ground under his shoes. "I've always wondered what it would feel like."

Harry is lighting another one of his pale cigarettes while it hanged from between his lips, a tiny flame igniting the papery tip. He breathes a circle of grey smoke into the air. "Hurts like a bitch."

Louis laughs with his head thrown back and curls his toes on his flimsy shoes. "I've never understood that phrase."

"A bitch hurts, I suppose." Harry shrugs, uninterested. "Why don't you try getting one, petal?"

"A female dog?" Louis blinks up at him in astonishment.

Harry's cackled laughter echoes through the breeze and carries across the street even with how vivid a sound it was. Louis felt heat creep up his neck to his cheeks, tinging them in just the right shade of pink.

"A piercing, petal." Harry clarifies once he's calmed himself down. "I find it endearing that you refuse to curse."

Louis tries not to pout but he really isn't that well groomed in will power. "I do my best."

"I know." Harry gives his cheek a plain kiss that made Louis' skin tingle. "I love your blush, I can always feel it on my lips when I kiss you."

All that statement does is worsen Louis' embarrassment and he looks away to improperly mask his sudden shyness. 

Harry knew his older brother just might toss him across a room for allowing Louis to attain such a significant alteration without him, but he didn't care one bit. If Edward could leave them, then he could leave them at a time when Louis decides he wants a belly piercing.

The leather chair the piercer made Louis sit on was little comfort for the nerves destroying the corners of his mind. He squirmed often and squeezed Harry's hand without minding how strong that grip was. His husband whispered sweet nothings into his ear for twenty minutes while Louis leaned against him and shut his eyes.

"You're so brave to do this, petal." He told the boy in a husky voice, reserved just for Louis. "I can't wait to taste you after this."

The process of getting the ring inserted was quick in itself. Louis winced and Harry rubbed his hip continually, until it was done and his small beads of dark blood were being wiped away. The jewel was one that Harry picked out and he was innately proud of himself. 

His petal's body was flawless without permanent alteration or external factors, his tummy so soft and his touch so delicate. But then there's this _one small piece_ of sparkling silver that's attached at his navel, shimmering sometimes and cold to the touch. Harry could stare at it for hours and never blink, never need sustenance. He's grateful for many things in his life but his petal with this lovely jewel is what makes a life worth living.

"Does it hurt, baby?" Harry asks after he's gotten Louis to his feet and is admiring the glistening silver charm. 

"A little sore." Louis has a never-ending pout on his lips that he himself isn't aware of. He gasps out of surprise when Harry drops to his knees when they weaken, face planted in Louis' front. "A l-lot sore."

Harry smiles into Louis' tummy, happy with his encouragement of the pain. He kisses the charm and groans at the icy press of it on his lips, moving to all the cardinal points while never letting his mouth part from Louis' warm skin. 

The thing that captured Harry's lust and love first was the _raw essence_ of what Louis' skin tasted and felt like. Where he'd been pierced was an open wound and still clinging to dregs of hope that it might heal. As the skin now tasted like traces of Louis' blood, smeared by the drag of Harry's lip, and sore skin, Harry couldn't get enough of it.

According to their less than substantial luck, fate dictated that Louis' piercer would return to the room at that moment when Harry refused to budge from his position. Although the thoroughly inked and distracted employee appeared to be disinterested, Louis caught his occasional glance to their awkward stance.

Louis will never say it but his tummy _hurt like a bitch_ after that. He tried not to complain but the tiny spear of metal holding open a wound through his navel was making him weak. Every gust of air made him partially hide behind Harry and he clutched the front of his odd shirt to keep it from getting snagged on his piercing.

All the way back to the hotel, he wondered what Edward would think of his newest venture.

Upon returning to their hotel room, Harry laid Louis down on the bed and paid attention solely to the piercing on his tummy. He kissed the red skin, nipped at the slightly torn area and nibbled gently on the swollen flesh. Louis whimpered with each facet of praise and often tried to wiggle his way free but his captor was much too possessive.

  
* * * * *  


_Harry rakes his fingers through his damp hair to push it out of his eyes, unlocking the door with the key card and tossing it aside before pulling it back on its hinges. He almost has no time to react when it isn't Edward, the brother whom he expected._

It happened too fast and Louis was in the worst position to see anything, his vantage point on the bed giving him no clear line of vision. 

"Fuck-" Harry blurted a curse, reproach and shock evident in his features as he attempted to slam the door shut again. He felt like a _fool_.

"No, no, no." A hand, wet but clean, slapped against the cold wood and shoved it back. "You're not shutting me out this time."

Louis _knew_ that voice and he didn't need to see anything to know he was right. Harry stumbled backwards but didn't fall, rushing back into the room to put a barrier between the intruder and his petal. 

Their unwanted visitor paid Harry's protective nature no mind and sauntered into the room feeling confident. He had an expensive grey coat on that was heavy on his broad shoulders, black eyes curiously peering around the room. His red hair was freshly tinted and bright, visible even with how dark the confines were.

Louis' fear clogged his throat and he hurriedly pulled the covers up around him, everything but his shoulders and face visible amongst purple sheets. He couldn't shuffle anymore towards the wall and his heart thumped cruelly in his throat, the only thing he's able to taste being metal. 

He sees Harry as his side and moves towards him, feeling anchored to safety with the man beside him. Harry's pulse was racing beneath Louis' fingertips when the boy took hold of his forearm, eyes dead but glaring narrowly at the person who really wasn't supposed to be near them.

The room dips into silence while Louis feels like he's drenched his horror, a thud in his chest making him choke on every breath his lungs grasps onto. He holds onto Harry, his only means of surviving the thoughtless glare of Dexter. It was a steady expression that the Styles' twins' father always had, one where his brow was always furrowed and his studious.

Dexter looked around him, at the abandoned bag dumped near the bathroom and the gaping windowpanes. He had a hand behind his back and the other fist clenched tightly around the handle of a small white box, unmoving but light. Harry squeezed Louis' hand, asserting his presence and protection while Louis folded his body into its smallest unit. He was battling to hide himself, to stop the painful flood of memories from bombarding his conscience.

The Madhouse. How gruesome everything was that went down there in an isolated attic that only they now knew about. It was a permanent nail hammered into the back of Louis' mind, dragging him down on every attempt at flight.

He felt his blood go cold when Dexter took a breath, inhaling the same air that once covered the grounds of their room needlessly. Beyond that icy feeling scraping his blood vessels, chilling every cell down to his core so he felt nothing but _numb_ , there was nothing.

Louis swallowed the stubborn lump in his throat and worsened the scratch marks on Harry's tattooed forearm, his nails clinging desperately to the skin.

"Stop being so afraid." Dexter reveals his arm from behind his back and Harry takes an automatic step forward. Narrow, snake-like eyes snap to him. "Settle down, Harry."

Louis barely manages to contain his scream when Dexter tosses something onto the bed, for him. He covers his mouth, eyes peeled wide open in fear and let's the shout trail off in a broken whimper. The box has been thrown towards him and the lid fell off, allowing a gap to form between it and the body of the crate.

"A peace offering, if you will." Dexter watches Louis, unnerving as he doesn't blink. He observes the boy like Harry does when Louis tentatively reaches out to the gift.

Shaky arms and quivering fingers, Louis rips open the box nonetheless. It's a shallow box but he still has to bring it onto his lap, the seconds it takes getting there gnawing at his impatient nature. Harry has his alarm on full alert while his petal reaches into the box because whatever he sees in it obviously doesn't trouble him.

Louis doesn't wait more than two heartbeats before pulling out a live animal, a black kitten with white socks and a tummy. The exact same one he'd played with at the pet store and that recognises him now, instantly latching onto the boy with soft meows.

"How'd you-" Louis looks up and those frightening eyes of depths and depths beyond emotions possible in this century silence him. 

"Shh, baby." Harry silences Louis' enquiry with a stern expression and the boy is happy to oblige, thumbing over the kitten's soft head quietly. 

"I didn't travel here to be shut out." Dexter snaps at both of them, a twinge of anger seeping into his words. "I have a purpose."

Louis catches a glimpse of Dexter's sharpened teeth and how a few are chipped at the back, obvious products of wear and tear. The age of the man was easily calculable from his physical outward appearance, prim yet dishevelled in his gaze. Something was holding this monster together by a single fine thread.

"What is your purpose then?" Louis slices through their tension with a quiet question of his own, his finger scratching absentmindedly behind the ear of his new pet. 

Dexter looks at him and a faint smile whispers over his features. He remembers once craving this boy and yet today he feels naught for him, much more pleased that his sons are happy with Louis. A craving was pale in comparison to the yearning he endured each passing day for _his star._

"I-" Dexter flexes his fingers through his wavy hair, pushing it back and flattening the red surface area into a tired quiff. "You have your lovers, Louis. My sons. I want mine back. My Niall, where is he?"


	10. VIII.

**_[A/N: WHAT EVEN WAS GOT SEASON 6 EPISODE 1? WHAT - S xx]_ **

**"I-" Dexter flexes his fingers through his wavy hair, pushing it back and flattening the red surface area into a tired quiff. "You have your lovers, Louis. My sons. I want mine back. My Niall, where is he?"**

Louis instantly deflates at the mention of his impressionable best friend, the only one he has. Niall has moved on when Dexter clearly hasn't and Niall is about to _get married_. He wants to leave everything behind him, and start a family. How can Dexter to this to him?

"I'm sorry, Dexter." Louis doesn't want Harry speaking for him, not when he has something to say. He scratches his feline pet behind its ear and offers sympathy to that deranged look in Sir Styles' expression. "You can't have-"

The hotel room door swinging back on its hinges disrupts the flow of his sentence and all three heads snap in the direction of the intrusion. Louis loses the air in his weak lungs, forgets to hold the covers so close and let's it fall to his waist. He breathes but tastes nothing, suspended in that moment when _Edward's_ heavy footsteps make its way around the bend.

Edward is looking the same as when Harry saw him leave, same clothes and messy hair. There are bags under his eyes, purple and black bruises blossoming under the papery surface of the palest skin. He doesn't even notice that there's an intruder in their hotel room first, solely focusing on Louis.

"I'm back, petal." He says so low that if Louis wasn't attuned to every sense of his, he'd probably never have heard anything.

A smile dawns on Louis' features as well has heartbreak because he wants to be so _frustrated_ with his husband. He can't be yet, not when there's more distressing symptoms to get rid of. Edward looks so tired and run down with tears in his jeans that aren't fashionable, grime and scuff marks on his skin. He's still as beautiful as the demon he kept within him.

Harry stops Edward was stepping forward and the latter almost punches the side of his jaw in aggravation, but all his brother has to do is turn his head. "Look."

Edward sees Dexter then and by the way his chest falls flat, he isn't breathing. His hands clench into angry fists and his jaw screws tight so securely that Louis _knows_ the taste of blood from his strained gums must be oozing onto his tongue. Edward is most of all, panicked. 

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Edward takes up the role of the dominant member of their trio as he always does, shouldering past Harry to challenge his father. "This is my home. You can't come into my fuckin' home."

Dexter is unpeturbed and even pulls up a chair for himself, sitting down with his legs crossed. "You live in a hotel? I thought you'd do better on your own."

Harry frowns behind Edward although he remains stoic, seating himself beside Louis so his petal has something to lean on. He cups the tired boy's cheek and kisses his forehead tenderly, smiling when Louis sneezes. Their new pet is asleep already, bundled up in the sheets on Louis' lap.

Their father always had something judgemental or condescending for Edward to hear, even if he loved both his sons. Edward was to be the breadwinner, the leader and had all this pressure mounted on his burdened shoulders.

"Get. Out." Edward sneered, his tone laced with the snarl of a beast. There was no doubt what he was capable of if Dexter didn't obey.

Louis watched in rapt intrigue but withheld from providing any input. He was under Harry's arm and care, toying with the tiny paw of a dozing kitten.

Dexter stood up again but this time with a sigh of indignation. "You're going to help me get something."

"No." It wasn't Edward who shot Dexter down first, but Louis.

All eyes fell on him, including Harry who was dumbfounded. Louis opened his mouth with a deep breath and his temples throbbing from a migraine. Everyone expected him to elaborate now as the room fell silent with tangible tension.

"He wants you to find Niall." Louis only winced when Harry's grip on him tightened Hellishly on a bruise already there. "You can't do that, Edward."

Edward was conflicted now. He wasn't going to help his father if his grave was beneath his feet but now Louis has spoken up. Louis has his reasons and Edward has his own, causing his brow to furrow as he processes it all.

"Niall?" He steps back and scratches his stubble. "Absolutely not, you bastard."

Dexter doesn't change a bit in his outward appearance, but something does turn the darkness of his eyes to inexplicable black pits. Formidable as they were, Louis wasn't done.

"You can't do this to him." Louis pleaded, looking up in earnest to defend his absent friend. "He's happy now."

Louis stiffens and Dexter almost loses his mind. He turns to boot the chair upon which he once sat and it falls onto its back as a broken furnishing. Louis winces at the harsh blow and echoing noise from the shattering collission. He wrapped his hands around Harry's forearm and hid from the horror.

Edward decides to step in after that. "That's enough, father."

"How can he be happy?" Dexter ignores Edward on principle and steps toward Louis for more information. 

Harry's arme extends across Louis' front and draws him back effortlessly onto his lap. He protects the boy that way, harbouring the evil and harm with his sacrifical body.

"Just like I am." Louis feels more of a calling to ease Dexter's worry than concern himself with safety. "He deserves that, don't you think?"

Something in Dexter's eye softens but only enough to be inefficient and mean nothing. He's fuming from the inside-out, grating his teeth against gum and letting the taste of blood flood his body from where he cut skin. A droplet peeked out the corner of his mouth and Louis saw it before a tongue swept it up.

"He deserves many things." Dexter replies, voice cracking with the gaping hollow in his heart. The heart he reserved for one person. "He deserves me."

  
* * * * *  


Niall is proud of himself. He just finished cooking dinner and set the table without breaking or cracking a single thing. Kudos to him. Zayn and Liam are due home at any moment and he's been free from work for over three hours. The only logical occupation for himself seems to be a glass of wine and Charlie Chaplin movie.

On his way there, his phone rings with Harry's caller identification popping up on the screen. His brow comes together in a puzzled frown whilst sliding his finger across the screen to answer.

"Harry?" He speaks into the receiver, allowing his confusion to be audible. "Why are you calling me?"

Nothing is heard from the other end and Niall gets frustrated with the childish antics of his best friend's husband. He sets his wine glass down on the shimmering white coffee table beside their universal remote and prepares to tear Harry a new one.

"Jesus Christ, you and Louis better not be-"

"My star?" 

Niall's wine glass falls to the ground and the deep red liquid lands on their expensive woolen rug. He stops breathing, thinking, _moving_ for many seconds and his hand trembles. The phone in its grip is suddenly no longer secure and Niall feels his life exit him in one swift kick in his gut.

"N-No." He gasps, a shivering palm coming up to cover his mouth. "No, it can't-"

"It is." The estranged and strangled voice on the other side replies, gruff edge and callous tone all the same like Niall remembers. "It's me, my star."

"Dexter." Niall gets up on his knees and sits back on his haunches submissively when he realises Dexter isn't actually present with him. "H-How did you find me?"

"I have my ways, sugar. I never lost you." Dexter answers like he's suffering the same temporary loss of sanity. 

Niall gulps down an unstable intake of air and hears it whistle between his teeth. "Oh.....- Oh my sweet Dexter."

There was no doubt that he still had ravenous feelings for Dexter, longing for the man that should never have entered his life. He deserves a future with golfing husbands and the perfect adopted children but Niall doesn't _want_ that. In the back of his mind where his dirtiest secrets lay, he always knew that's never what he desired most.

"My star." Dexter sounds reverent in the way he worships Niall's special petname. "My star, _I miss you._ I want to have you back."

Niall chokes on the air in his lungs and red flags fly up in alarm when the door starts to shiver with the constant jiggle of keys in the lock. He hurries to end this conversation. "I want to see you again. Tomorrow."

He hangs up and his fingers dart across the slippery screen to delete the call from Harry's number, erasing it from his log. The door swings open on its trusty hinges and his fiances walk in carrying packets of Chinese food, smiles on their faces up until they notice the food Niall cooked. He can't process any of it, can't even feel disappointed. All he knows is that he's _excited_.

  
* * * * *  


Louis watches Dexter go from the giant window running from ceiling to floor beside their bed. He's still in the nude but the lights are dimmed so drastically that there's a zero percent chance of anyone seeing him so exposed. He had his arm against the glass, his forehead resting on it as he let his mind unboggle itself in thought.

The hotel room's air-conditioner was strong and blew cool breeze around the room. Louis had a bedsheet wrapped around his body to keep out the bite of the cold while Edward took a shower to rid himself of the filth he trailed in. Harry was neatening the room for the sake of his neurotic tendencies and joined Louis at the window when he finished.

"Hey petal." The man caught Louis by his waist and drew him back so their bodies were compressed, skin to skin. 

Louis bit his lip to keep from being frightened and held onto Harry's arm that's snaked around his hips. It's so firm and strong, unbreakable as the man takes possession of him. "Hi, Daddy."

The shower was still running in the pitch blackened bathroom. Louis sucks in a deep breath and closes his eyes to the city lights, the lives of oblivious people below them. He settles back into Harry's chest and brings his hand up to the taller man's curls, fingers finding purchase in the silky locks.

"How are you, petal?" Harry asks as he noses along the visible bone near Louis' clavicle, his lips dragging across the smooth surface. "You've been awfully quiet."

"I'm sorry." Louis whispers tiredly and brings Harry's hand up to his chest so the heavy weight of the man's embrace is on his shoulders. "He didn't say anything when he left."

Harry doesn't answer for a minute at first, recalling the instant when Dexter walked out as well. Their father had dropped Harry's phone into his pocket and strode out past the still gaping hotel door without so much as a farewell. Louis was unnerved by that behaviour and was antsy to know how this was going to end.

"Come back to bed, baby." Harry took Louis by the hand and led him away from the window.

Louis sighed and mockingly pouted when he was tempted into bed, Harry getting under the covers first so he follows. His choice is to straddle his the man's thighs and lean into him, yawning against Harry's broad shoulder. The room gets a little warmer and _safer_ when Harry starts to rub his back, to kiss odd spots on his neck.

"You're upset with Edward." Harry has long since forgotten about Dexter, a method of coping when all he wanted in the world was for his father to be out of his life. "What are you going to say to him?"

"Don't know." Louis hears the shower still running and blinks away the time spent allowing his eyes to adjust to the dark room. 

"Go to him now." Harry pats Louis' bare bum where it sits on his hips. He cups the most gorgeous behind he's ever known and growls when the owner starts to squirm. "Go, baby."

"Okay." Louis departs from Harry with a treasured kiss shared between their sticky lips, before climbing off him. 

He nervously shuffles into the dim bathroom that doesn't have a single light on, silence drenching the room and movements under the shower spray being the only benchmark for life. Louis doesn't bother with the lights or disturbing the embodiment of male glory standing under the water that cascades down the pale planes of Edward's back.

Tattooed and muscular, Edward has soap suds sliding down his skin from the shampoo he used. He ran his hands through his hair to rinse it out multiple times, the extreme heat of the water turning his scars and skin pink. 

Louis makes no sound when stepping past the dirty clothes on the floor beside the hamper and toeing his way into the shower. Edward hasn't noticed him until Louis is sharing the shower with him, standing awkwardly to himself as little water reaches his feet. 

His husband stops to angle his head toward Louis, impassive and unreadable emotions scattered across his features. The colour of his eyes was black and wide blown, his jaw not relaxing and an arm against the wall to support all that troubled distinctions. His heart weighed heavy, his soul too.

"Baby." Edward muttered, depraved. He surged forward and grabbed his petite lover by his waist, pulling him closer under the water. "Oh my baby. How I've missed you."

Louis wants to deny it and reject the affection but never had he known separation could make his heart hollow like this. He let's Edward hold him and hides his face in the man's neck, up on his tiptoes to do so. Edward's hands run up and down his curved back, the wet glide leaving Louis feeling warm and tingly all over.

He hears Edward inhale to start again, say something else. Not allowing that to happen yet, Louis puts his mouth on Edward's and moans. He gets an immediate reaction so Edward presses his back into the wall and deepens the kiss, drawing in shallow breaths through his nose.

"I missed you." Louis had to say it. He parts his lips and Edward's tongue lashes out within its confines, rubbing against Louis' smaller, pink muscle. 

Edward doesn't let their kiss break, won't ever allow it. He first grabs hold of Louis' thighs and hikes them up on his waist so they're on the same level, unable to resist the ripple of flesh when he smacks the warm mounds. He does it again and groans, sucking on Louis' bottom lip. 

"Why are you such a jerk?" Louis asks without a flame of sass or teasing, nails digging into Edward's shoulderblades. 

A sinister smirk makes its way onto Edward's face, their mouths still connected. "I'm going to spend the rest of my life apologising."

Louis hums to respond and drags his tongue over the pointed ends of Edward's teeth, tracing the sharpened daggers. He loves the feel of them so much, be it on his tongue or piercing his skin shallowly. They're so frightening yet so reassuring, so _possessive_.

"My brother's already had his way with you tonight." Edward drops Louis onto his own two feet and flips him around, face pressed against the cold glass. 

Louis feels Edward's hands roaming his posterior, seeking out and kneading the firm muscle where Harry's bruises and bites still were. He felt jolts of pain from each one that Edward mistreats, the inevitable hardening between his legs coming from those seductive ministrations.

"He did a-" Edward drops to his knees behind Louis and pries the boy's cheeks apart, lips moving over his perineum as he speaks. "-thorough job on you."

Louis takes a shaky breath and jerks in the other direction, not wanting this to go any further. Edward still left them, still lied to him before walking out the door before Louis could even have another chance to convince him of staying. That reminder made Louis ache in his constricting chest, his arousal dim and his eyes sting.

"Stop." He shook his head and pushed Edward away fervently, fingers tugging on Edward's silver ringlets. 

The man doesn't stop at first. He doesn't want to be deprived any further love from his petal and holds on tighter. His hands become steel and his teeth nip continually at Louis' damp skin, _begging_ silently for a chance to relish in the wonderland of Louis' body.

"No." Louis refuses even when his husband looks so conflicted and pained on his knees, immediately joining him for leverage. 

Edward grunts into his spot on Louis' neck that he burrows into desperately, opening his mouth and sinking his teeth deliberately into the skin where his petal is most sensitive. He feels relaxed this way and closes his eyes whilst draping his arms around Louis' waist. 

Louis is the only one for him. Just for him and Harry. Edward knew it when the boy first walked into their cell at the Madhouse, ignorant of their plans for him and all his innocence still about him. Now that prosperous sweetness was captured by them, stolen from him so that they could replace it with the undying need to be co-dependent. It was their way of making certain that they'd never lose him.

In any moment of doubt, Edward would give Louis a little bite and watch him wince but not resist. Just like now. He tastes blood that splashes onto his tongue and the droplets that roll down his tongue but Louis only hisses, doesn't push him away. It's a puncture wound that's half as harmful as all the others and Louis let's him feed from it until the blood stops flowing, maroon ribbons painted across his mouth sloppily.

"Better?" Louis uses excess water that's gathered in his cupped palm to clean the corners of Edward's mouth. 

A sliver of slight peeks into the bathroom from the door and slices Edward's visage in half, one lit and the other plunged into darkness. Louis rests his forehead against both sides as he loves and treasures both the exquisite and horrific parts of his husband.

Edward gets to his feet after stealing a kiss from Louis and laughing at Louis' gasp, his sweet blush. He picks the boy up by his thighs, hugging them to his chest tightly so Louis fell over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. It's grown an act of custom amongst their little trio now and it's all Louis can do to push himself up with his hands pressing down on Edward's shoulders. He's upright this way and definitely closer to the ceiling than he'd used to.

Louis is hauled like deadweight into the bedroom again where the television is on, displaying a boring show that Harry's less than fascinated with. He pokes Edward's shoulder when the man drops him onto the bed, departing then to dress himself. 

"Come 'ere, petal." Harry's voice was rough and gravely from not speaking in a while, pulling Louis without gentility up against him. 

Easily his husband slips into his space, sharing one clean comforter that all but cloaks Louis' lovely form. Harry is ignoring Edward and it's evident by the way he pays all his attention to Louis, for unnecessarily long periods of time. Louis doesn't mind it at all because affection from his husband is always dear to him.

"I'm not a toy." Louis chastises when Harry doesn't stop studying him, from warming up his skin to pinching his less than appreciative nipples.

Harry's a child in that way. He wants to appear busy so Edward doesn't try talking to him, only to be shot down. He's already rolled over so Louis is under him, shielded and hidden in the same breath. 

"That's what _you_ think." Harry is nibbling on the half-arsed healing wound that Edward put on him. 

Louis rolls his eyes fondly and let's Harry go about his inspection. He sighs heavily when the bed sinks to his left, due notification of Edward's presence on it. Harry tenses only a little, enough for Louis to feel him turn uneasy against him between his parted knees and hiding in his neck.

"Harry." Edward calls his younger twin, looking at Louis first as if he were ascertaining whether it's appropriate yet. 

Harry ignores him and turns his face into Louis' neck, chest rumbling against Louis' in irritation. There was a time when Louis would be terrified because of being so exposed to the volatility of the Styles brothers, but now it's tragedy without some incident.

"Pup." Edward exhales dejectedly and gets himself seated on the bed properly, his borrowed slacks from Harry's bag hanging off his hips. "Please talk to me."

Louis doesn't know what he's supposed to operate as being stuck in the middle. He sticks to combing through Harry's lengthy hair as he hasn't cut it in so long. He's caged between the arms that are constantly shifting as they curl around his back and immobilise his actions. 

"Louis." Edward turns to his lover for help, the request shining through his troubled gaze. 

He gets a rejection via Louis shaking his head. "I can't help you."

"At least-" Edward pushes his hair back from his forehead and the earnest in his eyes is so frighteningly raw that Louis fears he'll give him just to have that shade of green closer. "-have you forgiven me?"

Louis opens his mouth because his response is on the tip of his tongue but no voice moves. He's stuck with a frown on his brow and no real answer. Has he forgiven Edward? He's never been in a position where a decision like that was at the forefront. Louis is torn between letting it go because Edward is here now, safe, and showing him just how upset he made them by leaving. 

The latter crushes the former and he's suddenly pushing Harry off him so he can have some air, get off the bed so he can walk away from them both.

"Petal?" Harry calls out. He's confused by this turn of events because he hadn't done anything wrong.

Pulling away was still bitter on Louis' tongue, making his heart cringe with the separation. Division was not their strong suit. He pulled on a T-shirt from the broken armchair and finds a curled up, dozing kitten under it. Harry must have put the creature there when he went to Edward. It slept so peacefully on its side, legs splayed out and ear twitching. 

"I mean-" Louis is bubbling with infuriation and tugs on his own hair as he tries to get his thoughts out in words. "You must know what you did, Edward. Even if- Even if you didn't care when you did it but now-"

Edward stands up and Louis glares at him with narrowed vision, crossing his arms over his chest when the man tries to defend himself from across their bed. "Of course I cared, petal. Why the Hell wouldn't I care about you?"

"Because you left anyway!" Louis throws his hands up in hopeless derision and steps forward so his knees met the mattress. 

"I had to leave!" Edward barks, raising his voice to meet the match of Louis'. "It's my responsibility to protect both of you!"

Louis clenches his fists and keeps from erupting into a scream "It's your responsibility to be here with us! Protect us by _being here._ " 

Edward's gaze is haunted by the monster lurking behind a deep green curtain, one that hasn't shown itself since the Madhouse but is just on the edge of rebirthing itself. Louis' scared of that monster just like everyone is but Louis knows he can tame it.

"I can't do that. _I won't do that._ " Edward is fighting off rage, it's clear from his screwed jaw and white knuckles. "You can't punish me for doing my duty."

"Enough fighting." Harry slides off the bed and stands to his full height, his shadow towering over Louis' to conquer it and carries more plight than an ordinary man. 

"Now you speak." Edward snaps at his sibling with a lethal glower, one that's dangerous and threatening. "I would have thought you lost your tongue in the time that I was gone."

While Harry took no offence to the statement, Louis wished he had more of a decent weapon to hurl at Edward other than a pillow. "How can you say that to him?!"

Edward turns back to Louis when Harry extends his arm towards the boy, keeping him from moving. "I thought you were already upset, petal. What's the harm in making it worse?"

Louis ground his clenched jaw and scowled at his husband's distasteful behaviour. He scoffed. "I knew you didn't care."

"Oh for fuck's sake, Louis!" He shouted loud enough for every crevice and corner in this room to hear how _angry_ he was. "You and Harry both know how much this family means to me, what I'd do to protect it."

"That's not all there is to a family, Edward!" Louis spits, fitted with agitation. "A family shares their burdens, works through it together."

"When have we ever been a conventional relationship, Louis?" Edward slices through the tension in the room with this question, asking it to selfishly render Louis speechless. "There are three of us in this room. We met in an asylum and we got married in Vegas."

"Edward, that's not what I'm trying to tell you." Louis replies calmly, the urgent need to be understood flickering in the crystal blue of his exhausted eyes. "All I ask is that you never take on something like this again by yourself."

"Why?" Edward watches Louis maneuvre past Harry on his swift and bare feet, his hand on Harry's forearm to balance himself on the bend. 

Louis comes to a stop when he's right in front of Edward, an embodiment of fearless petite power. He's enthralling in the dark standing a little more than a foot under Edward's forehead, looking up with wild blue eyes. The light from outside is dim in comparison to him and he outshines all other illumination.

"Because-" Louis takes Edward's hands and forces those balled-up fists to relax, easing his fingers into the gaps between Edward's. "Because have you ever thought about what being a family means?"

Harry wants to applaud Louis' technique of manipulation or whichever method he's using to accomplishing this feat. He admires how fiery and perfect his petal is now when he's breaking in the beast of Edward's soul to when he's merely smiling, harmless and tranquil.

"Petal-"

"It means-" Louis cuts Edward off when he tries to interrupt, not wincing when the man tightens his hands around Louis' and squeezes. "-that we're going to do this together next time. No secrets. No leaving. None."

Edward knows he's losing a battle he set out to be victorious in and let's Louis know of his surrender with a drained breath. He nods once curtly and struggles in smothering his smile when Louis' lips touch his cheek. "Good."

That reward crashes to the ground burning on a stake when Edward angles his head for a kiss on his lips but Louis denies him. Instead he gets Louis' finger on his lips keeping them sealed, a little fire in the blue of his eyes that's outstandingly mischevous. Edward deflates like a beaten up balloon.

"You'll have to work for it, you know." Louis drops back onto the heels of his feet and steps back, leaving Edward's lips tingling with his absent touch.

Edward's hand travels with Louis for the short gap between them before it's dropped and Louis is far enough away for it to be criminal. Maybe he's doing better with forgiving Edward for his betrayal but Harry, whose arms Louis retires to, is far from that point. He still refuses to even look in his brother's direction.

Harry nudges Louis' temple with his lips and chin, encouraging the boy onto bed. "To bed, baby."

Louis nods and pouts when Harry pinches his hip, directing him onto the half of the bed that they'll share. When he's safely on the mattress and trying to figure out which side of the comforter is which, Edward tries speaking to Harry. He fails when his brother quite violently shoves him off.

"Don't." Harry seethes whilst pointedly glaring at the mirror image of himself, and turns away.

  
* * * * *  


Niall spent every hour for the past half a day stewing over what he's going to do when Dexter walks through his door. Zayn and Liam are working only until lunch time today because they want to take Niall out afterwards, depicting how considerate they are. Niall felt like an ungrateful heathen now that he's waiting for another man to come into their home.

He paces back and forth beside the coffee table, biting his thumbnail and fingering the hem of his T-shirt. Every two seconds he looks at the door like Dexter's just going to show up without word or sound. 

Finally at something past nine or eight, Niall stops walking when a heavy knocking echoes through his home. He rushes to the door like he _knows_ who's on the other side of it. Unlocking the latch is harder with shaky fingers and an unfocused mind. He finally gets it loose and yanks the barrier open, holding his breath and looking up. 

"My star." Dexter breathes and recites Niall's name deliberately slow when the boy is in front of him, in the flesh for the first time in over two years.

Niall feels the corners of his eyes stinging with the promise of emotional tears. He looks down a little and has to choke back a saddened sob, salty tears rolling down his cheeks when he sees the bouquet of various flowers Dexter is holding. 

"For you." Dexter holds out the crinkly bunch of perfect flowers. Daisies and roses and lillies. 

Niall scoops them up and gets a whiff of their petals, smiling at how natural and organic it smells. He looks up again after making sure nothing will fall from one hand, taking Dexter's hand in his to invite him inside. After closing the door to avoid nosy neighbours, Niall drops the flowers onto the coffee table and turns around.

"Th-Thank you." He stutters nervously, rubbing his hands together to have something to do. "For the flowers. I-I really like them."

Dexter had on a heavy black raincoat and his hair was brightly tinted to the same vibrant red Niall remembers and loves. There's a coffee table between them but it feels like an ocean. Niall hugs himself and rubs his own biceps to warm up his skin.

"So-" Niall lightly scratches at his own arms. "Why are you in Seattle?"

Dexter doesn't hesitate for more than a heartbeat to answer. "For you. I'm here for you."

Niall fishmouths pointlessly as shock overrules his system. "F-For me?"

"Yes." Dexter tries stepping around the obstacle between them but stops with a hurt frown when Niall only steps back in response. He's taking off his coat and draping it over the back of one single couch. "Just for you, my star. I need you back with me."

Shaking his head, Niall wipes his tears away but they keep flowing down his face. His cheeks are overheated and he can't stop the racing droplets as they burn him on contact but this weakness is killing him. Seeing Dexter again is _killing him_.

"No. I can't go back." Niall stubbornly refuses no matter the longing in his chest originating in his heart. 

He wants to be back in those arms where he was safest. Two sets of arms were around him every night and he always mentally compared them to the ones that protected him in the Madhouse. He wasn't as dependent back then and loves Liam and Zayn, loves them more than he can imagine. But Dexter is his _other half_. He can love with only half of himself when it was anyone except Dexter.

"Why do you say that?" Dexter looks so unfairly offended by Niall's response. 

"Because it's been two years!" Niall shouts in exasperation and let's the tears fall, eyes bloodshot. "If you wanted me then you would have come back two years ago."

"Sugar." Dexter reaches out and doesn't let Niall escape this time, closing off his moving space against the wall to what he awards him with. "I wanted to give you time. I wanted-"

"Don't even bother lying to me." Niall narrows his glare at Dexter. "I can tell when you're lying."

A smirk makes its way onto Dexter's features so it makes him look more scary and sinister, less like a man on the street with millions in his manor back home. 

Dexter took Niall's hand and kissed the back of his palm. He paused to press his lips against the boy's eratic pulserate. "Marry me."

If it didn't already feel like his heart was in his hand, completely severed from his ribcage and beating brutally in his fist, Niall would have laughed. "What? No."

"Why not?" Dexter chuckles into their tiny bubble that's swathed in private intimacy. Nobody can hear or see them outside the space Dexter gives them.

"Because I'm engaged." Niall closes his fists and hides the double-banded ring given to him by his fiances. "I love them, Dexter. I can't abandon them."

Dexter's fist comes down on the wall beside Niall's head but the latter male doesn't even flinch. "I'll take you with me anyway then. Force you to wear my ring on your finger."

Niall smiles wryly and keeps his hands curled up inside Dexter's fists. "You can't do that."

"I can do what I please." Dexter laughed throatily and proud, closing in on his prey easily. "You included."

"That's a vile thing to say to the one you want to marry." Niall giggles because he's completely at ease, loved and loving. "Maybe try rephrasing it for me?"

Dexter rolls his eyes and clutches Niall's hips possessively in his firm hands, squeezing with his fanned out fingers tightening cruelly around the warm flesh. He kisses Niall's forehead and keeps his lips held against the heated skin.

"Let me take you away." He pleaded, words muffled by the way his lips struggle to move freely. "I'll give you everything you could ever want."

Niall closes his eyes and fits himself in under Dexter's chin, feeling guarded and comforted. "I can't, X. I love my life now and the people in it."

"Not as much as you love me."

  
* * * * *  


Louis knows when this started but he isn't sure when it's going to end or if it will at all. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place, battling to find sanctity when both his husbands are using him as a mediator and method of stress release. In the past three days that he's been back under his own roof in their apartment, Louis had to be off from work for all three on behalf of his mistreated bottom. 

He's been witness to the world's grandest contrast when both Harry and Edward approach him at varying times. Harry is sweet and asks Louis to spend time with him, kissing below the boy's ear and whispering about his needs. Louis would respond with giggling and trying not to blush, only to fail. 

Edward was _brutal._ Louis wasn't one to complain about the way he was grabbed, ceased or pinned. He'd whimper helplessly and spread his thighs to welcome his aggressive husband, screaming as loud as he can and thrashing about mindlessly. He was fucked until he was unable to think for himself, filled with the warm traces of Edward's seed and stuffed with a plastic plug to keep it inside him.

As revenge, when Harry stumbled across Louis fidgeting in his seat or squirming in front of the television, he'd have the plug yanked out and replaced with Harry. As sore and sensitive as he was, his husbands didn't care and took him across every surface whenever they pleased.

 _"Jesus."_ Louis' head fell back against the pillar in the middle of their living room, numb yet sizzling with the remnants of his powerful orgasm. 

"Yeah, petal." Harry hiked Louis' thighs further up on his hips and ground his hips in deeper to rub against Louis' sensitized walls, pelvis jerking as he craved the warmth of his lover around him. "That was so good, baby. You were so lovely."

Louis whined in a high pitch when Harry massaged his sides and pectorals with agile fingers. He was turning stiff all over from being folded in half against the wall for over half an hour, panties hanging off his ankle and his shirt torn around his neck. Harry stopped shuddering through his climax after he rode it out using Louis' body as a sheath, massaging the already visible bruises on Louis' skin.

"I can never have sex again." Louis panted tiredly, chest rapidly heaving as Harry's lips sought out the sweet pinch of his pulse point. 

Harry chuckled because he also found it amusing. "You're my little flower, baby."

Louis tired picked his own weight up higher and pecked Harry's nose tip that was always cold. "Am I really?"

"Certainly." Harry roughly burrows into Louis' neck where his teethmarks were in abundance. 

He knew that all it would take was an hour or so and Louis will be ready for another round if need be, but for now the boy deserved to relax. The plug was pulled from Louis' grip and slipped back into place inside him, much too easily popping into place past his loose hole.

"You're gaping like a girl, petal." Harry nipped at Louis' cheekbone and growled when the boy was set on his feet, smaller - and colder - feet resting on the arch of his. 

Louis stretched his muscles as they tightened and his toes curled against Harry's ankles. He yawned into Harry's clavicle and draped his arms over the man's shoulders. The blush on his cheeks was undeniable and so beautiful to the naked eye that wanted to trace it.

"Are you ever going to forgive him?" Louis asks quietly, both of them now aware that Edward is one room away in the bedroom.

"No." Harry curted, stepping back and taking Louis with him. "He can turn fuckin' rotten for all I care."

"Hey now." Louis didn't want any ridges being put up between the brothers and this debaccle has gone on for long enough. "Don't treat him that way."

"Oh really, petal?"

"Yes."

Harry leads Louis to the bedroom and completely ignores Edward seated on the bed tapping away on his phone. Everything in here is dark except for its screen. Just because they're thoroughly ignoring one another doesn't mean that they won't be in the same room together.

Louis climbed onto the bed and was easily welcomed onto Edward's lap, though he sat back to watch Harry go into the closet. He sighs deeply and takes Edward's phone away to toss it somewhere amongst the sheets, replacing the purpose of those arms with guarding his waist.

"My baby." Edward squeezed Louis' hips with a smile on his lips and kisses his cheek. He crushes the boy to his chest and curls him into a suitable shape so they fit together. "How are you, baby?"

"I'm wishing my husbands would get along." Louis bares his neck and Edward kisses each scar he's left behind over their years together. 

Edward's grip turns more than a little constricting and Hellish in such a harsh hold around him. "I'm ready to apologise but my brother refuses to hear it, petal."

Louis observes how stubborn Harry is when he gathers clothing and stuffs it into a ball under his arm, ready for a shower. "Harry?"

The man responds with a hum and brief glance in Louis' direction, pulling sweatpants off the hangers. "Yes, baby?"

"Can you come here, please?" He asks sweetly, prodding at Edward's bulging forearms with his wiith his fingertips. 

"Is something wrong, petal?" Harry doesn't lift his head from the task of retrieving a towel off a rack. 

"No." Louis clears his throat and shuffles his way onto Edward's thighs. 

Harry laughs for a bit, shaking his head before walking away. "Then I see no need for me to be there."

They continue in this way for another twelve hours before Louis tries his hand at preparing dinner and slices through his finger with a steak knife. Blood spills onto his clothes and the medium rare T-bone in his plate with mixed vegetables and mashed potatoes. He hisses and cries out in pain, before dropping the dishes onto the table and rushes to the sink.

"Petal?" Edward follows Louis at the same speed that Harry does, taking wide strides to get to their husband.

Louis despises the pain resonating from his left ring finger and turns nauseous at the blood of his own that's dripping in heavy rivulets down the appendage. He whimpers audibly at the sight of the injury and holds it under running water, wincing every so often when a chest meets his back.

"Shh, baby. Don't look at it if you don't want to see." Edward took Louis' hand and supported it under the stream of water, cleaning out the wound.

Harry holds onto Louis' hips and kisses his temple, his cheek to calm him down. Louis is shivering from the terribly cold sensation riding up his veins from the nursed injury. The sting of such a deep cut is relentless and repetitive.

"Alright, petal?" Harry rubs Louis' side and pets his tummy with one smooth palm, lips against his over's earlobe. "Does it still hurt, Lou?"

"Nah uh."

Louis sniffles and when Edward's done examining his his injury, he grabs onto the man's lapel with his able hand. He hides his quivering lip in his husband's torso, his back protected by Harry's embrace and his front shielded by Edward's warmth.

"It's a small thing, petal." Edward reassures the boy in his arms. "You're so much stronger, baby. Why are you crying?"

Harry leaves to fetch the first aid kit from their en-suite bathroom and returns shortly after, setting the red box down on the kitchen island. He brings Louis closer to him whilst not detaching the boy from his brother. Edward doesn't seem to be in a giving mood either and might throw a punch before he allows Louis to be taken from him.

"It's stopped bleeding, petal." Harry informs them both whilst cutting a neat piece of cotton gauze and dampening a cotton swab in antiseptic liquid. 

He stains Louis' skin purple with the disinfecting medicine and wraps the boy's finger in three layers of muslin bandage. Louis' wedding band is pushed down a little to make room for the gauze so that it doesn't have to be removed entirely. Harry takes his hand kisses that hurt finger of Louis' to offer affection.

"Good boy." Edward clasps either side of Louis' face and kisses his forehead firmly. 

Harry joins their union only for the sake of Louis, to make sure the boy is well taken care of. He slides his hands in between Edward and Louis' bodies, attaching himself to them. "Feeling better?"

Only after Louis' taken Harry's hand in his right and Edward's in his left does he respond. "A lot."

Harry starts to pull away after that. He tugs on Louis' loose T-shirt to warn him before withdrawing from their small trio but the boy looks up at him so distraught and heartbroken that it weakens the man at his knees and heart. He sighs in conflict and let's Louis hold onto him.

"Come to bed." Louis looks up at both of them, leaving no room for them to deny him when he's so ready to convince them. "Please. I want you both."

It was said and done not as easily. Louis manages to get them into the same bed for the first time in three nights, lying in the middle with the security of two bodies on either side of him. Edward lay behind him with Louis' body curled into his chest, but facing Harry. One hand was flattened over Louis' tummy from behind and one caressing the sculpted structure of his facial features.

Louis was half asleep already and rested his head on his arm as it smashed the folded side of his pillow. He peeled one eye open and smiled when he found Harry watching him. 

"Remember our wedding night?" Louis keeps his injured hand atop the faint dark hair on Harry's chest. "When you sang in my ear until I fell asleep."

Harry's joy at the recollection of such a sweet memory is unfathomably true. He gets a little closer to his lover and Edward's hand tightens on Louis' hip. "I remember it like it's branded into the inside of my skull. That was one of my favourite nights."

"You have a list of your favourite nights?" Louis questions softly, delicately. "Tell me."

"Just three, petal." Harry plays with Louis' hand, folding over two fingers to show three standing up. He kisses each appendage as he ticks them off. "Third is the first night we spent together. Second is our wedding night. First and the one I won't forget if it costs me the currency of my blood, is the night you told me you loved me."

"Oh Harry." Louis feels strangely emotional after hearing Harry's _stunning_ words. The whole statement was a serenade, a love song that doesn't even need rhythm. 

Harry gets a tender, gentle kiss placed over his lips from Louis. The warmth in his body is rejuvenated and he smiles into the connection, angel meeting demon in a fantastic ceremony of nurturing and care. He breathes in deeply so he doesn't have to pull away from Louis, and suddenly frowns when Louis is turning around to give Edward his attention.

It's a strained wriggle on Louis' part for he only stops when he's completely turned around. Edward's eyes are closed but Louis knows when he's pretending to be asleep or majorly disinterested. He gives Edward's bottom lip a punishing tug from his teeth. 

"I know you're awake." He whispers in the unresponsive man's ear, feeling Edward's fingers twitch on his lower back. "Since Harry told me his favourite nights, you can tell me about the best days of your life."

"The day I saw you walking into our cell as our therapist." Edward's eyelids slowly slip past their drowsy states and powerful green, intoxicating emerald fumes expose themselves without censorship to Louis' harmless blue. "I knew you were going to ruin me then and I was right."

"I don't think I did anything of the sort, Edward Styles." Louis defends his own honour, reaching up to cup Edward's cheek. "I love you."

Edward leans into Louis' hand with closed eyes again and breathless grumbles. "You tore me limb from limb and I'm left bleeding each time you say that. Your love rips me apart but it's also the only thing worth staying whole for."

**_[A/N: Don't forget to send any questions you have for me via PM or posting on my profile for Wattpad and commenting for AO3. I'm going to do a Q &A session and would love for you guys to send me any type of question(s). All will be answered. - S xx]_ **


	11. IX.

**_[A/N: Warning notice. There will be character death in this story, not specifying on major or minor yet but there will be more than one and now L, E or H. Literally half of you love Dexter and the other half wants him mounted on a spoke. O.o - S xx]_ **

Louis sighs and lays back on the couch, ready to relax in minimal clothing after the hardest week to face his company. His boss employed his obnoxious son to temporarily run the building and he drove everyone up the wall for five days straight. He treated Louis like his PA and when he returned from a coffee run, found the guy's actual PA pulling up her skimpy underwear under her pencil skirt.

Despite the migraines he came home with every single day without fail, Louis didn't utter endless complaints to his husbands. They didn't ask either except for when Harry sympathised with him long enough for a cuddle session. 

On Monday, Harry spent the entire day ignoring Edward when his brother begged to be forgiven. Edward took the liberty that day of waking up with Louis at an early hour and making breakfast while the latter giggled hysterically at his hard work.

"I don't find my struggle amusing, petal." Edward chastised him for sitting innocently perched on the kitchen island whilst eating all the grapes for his fruit salad.

"I do." Louis pouted when Edward came closer to reprimand him. He whined when the bowl of grapes were swiped off his lap and wrapped his arms around Edward neck, legs tight around the man's hips. "Give 'em back, Daddy."

Edward pinches Louis' bottom but that clearly isn't enough for him when the boy's bum is so tempting and he's got five fingers all long enough to knead it relentlessly. He accepts a little kiss from Louis while the boy is falling onto him with a bright smile on his face. 

The sunlight creeping into their apartment through the drapes was perfectly toned to light Louis up from the inside. Edward smiled back, pointed canines glistening from the sun reflecting off them. He cheekily took an opportunity to lick the seam of Louis' lips before planting him back on the countertop.

"You can have three more only." Edward mumbles against Louis' suspiciously sweet lips and pats his hip. "Any more and I'll have to take you over my knee here."

Louis rolls his eyes and squeaks when his husband pinches his soft waistline. "So do you think he'll forgive you?"

Edward groans in a pained manner and hooks his chin over Louis' slim shoulder, turning his face into the boy's neck. He can take full advantage of Louis' sleepy, citrus scent. Louis' skin was delectably soft all the time and often tasted like he'd been glued to one of the twins overnight.

"Hopefully, baby." Edward licks his lips and exhales tiredly. "Why can't he forgive me like you did?"

"Because-" Louis reached out and lightly pinched Edward's cheeks, his thumbs grazing those deep dimples. "-I can never resist this face but Harry has his own, I guess."

Edward took Louis' hands away from his face and kissed both gently. When those deeply set and masked malevolent green eyes resurfaced, they were troubled greatly. Harry cracked a little that day but not enough. He smiled at his brother and ate the food Edward prepared for two hours by the stove after Louis drove himself to work. Nothing else came of Edward's fervent attempts however.

Tuesday meant Edward repeating the breakfast routine as well as Harry paying a visit to Louis' office after his boy called him. Louis was exhausted by noon when his boss' son was nowhere near done being an asshole to him. 

"Daddy?" Louis fell back in his office seat and threw his coat aside, curling up on the leather chair. 

Harry immediately became concerned. "Hello, baby."

"What are you up to?" Louis picked at rough paper edges of some discarded documents. 

Harry holds the phone to his ear whilst looking around him, the wind whipping the collar of his coat. "I just stepped out of the apartment."

Louis doodles stick figures on the cover a proposal. "What for?"

"My brother is relentless." Harry walks through the viciously cold breeze and gets into his Jeep that's been neglected for a whole night in the parking lot. 

"Oh Harry." Louis sits his elbows on the desk and closes his eyes. "He's trying so hard. Can't you just forgive him?"

He hears a little chuckle on the other end. "I've forgiven him already, petal. I'm curious as to how far he's willing to go."

"That's so mean!" Louis whisper-shouts in outrage and some mockery. "He thinks you're still mad at him."

Acting accordingly, Harry paid Louis a visit and got a mild scolding for being so inconsiderate towards his older brother. Harry was silent throughout the reprimanding but shut Louis up by swiping everything off the boy's hectic desktop and dumping him onto it. He was far more aesthetically pleasing.

"What are you doing?" Louis propped himself up on his elbows and gasped when his thighs were quite forcefully hiked up on Harry's hips. 

"You seem to think I drove her to be yelled at, petal." Harry's body covered Louis' entirely when he bent over and undid Louis' pants to toss it onto the floor. "I came for _this_."

In elaboration, Harry withdrew a silver square foil from his jeans pocket and tore it open with his teeth. If the sight wasn't so erotic, Louis might have protested earlier. Those demented green eyes remained on him the entire time the task was carried out, lust overpowering reason and sweat building between them.

"Where on Earth did you get that?" Louis arched his back and twisted his fingers into Harry's curls.

"Drug store." Harry panted when he smeared lube over Louis' puckered, pink little hole. Slathered and cold meant Louis hissed from the contact between his cheeks.

"When have we ever used condoms, Harry?" The boy sat up when Harry allowed him some space and pulled his husband closer for a steamy, albeit messy kiss. Tongues tangled and teeth clashed, groans floating into the air. 

Harry shrugged and jerked Louis closer to him, hunger eating away the gentility he usually possessed. "Wanted to experience what it felt like."

"You're going to hate it." 

Louis took the rubber accessory from Harry and pinched the pointed tip, pulling it snuggly over Harry's already throbbing erection. It was hot and heavy in his hand, making his fingers appear so much smaller. 

"What kind is it?" Louis asked when he wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders and hid his face in his husband's neck. 

"Fire and Ice." Harry grunted distractedly, rubbing the tip of his desperate length over Louis' clenching entrance. "Gonna turn hot and cold inside you, baby."

Louis bursts into laughter and Harry's chuckle is also audible, both bodies moulded tightly together in their fit of amusement. The smaller of the two clings to Harry's shoulderblades while his giggles fade away, lips pressed to Harry's lips. 

"You're so cute." Louis pecks Harry's nose when he feels something pressing into him, letting his head fall back. "Cute and crazy."

Harry winks down at him when their gazes meet and Louis blushes wildly, cheeks heating up and mind going blank for the first time today. On his office desk, succumbing to the thrill of having sex at work, Harry fucks Louis with a hand over the boy's mouth. He can make no noise and attract attention from outsiders.

Louis was in an uncomfortable arch on his glass table, his thighs quivering on each thrust Harry delivered. Harry growled in his struggle to be quiet, and bit down on Louis' neck so it turned purple and bruised. He moved their bodies as one, skin slapping skin. 

Harry pounded into Louis harder than he should have in their current circumstances. He removed his hand and replaced with his mouth, sealing Louis' lips with his own. Louis' nails dug into Harry's shoulderblades cruelly until they bled, breath hitching when Harry started to slow his thrusts. 

"That feels nice." Louis comments a little dopily with a smitten glint in his eye. He pulled Harry impossibly closer and curled his toes, feeling the pleasure as deep as possible.

"Hmm." Harry cupped Louis' behind and squeezed it reverently. " _You_ feel fucking amazing, petal."

Louis blushes despite their already explicit position and kisses Harry slow and languid, breathing harshly through his nose to feed any air to his labouring lungs. "O-Oh _Daddy_. I-"

"Don't." Harry bit Louis' earlobe and spanked his bottom. "Don't come yet, baby. I want this to last."

With a stubborn pout, Louis tries to reign in his orgasm from coming too early. He closes his eyes and focuses on his husband, the man slowly unravelling his body stitch by stitch. It was intoxicating, spellbinding.

"You know-" He took a deep breath and balanced himself under Harry's shielding body. "-anything p-personal done at- _shit_ \- at work is-"

"Baby." Harry flattens his palms on the table on either side of Louis, rolling his hips so they collide with Louis' _hard_. "Why're you talking right now?"

"W-Wanna enjoy the moment." Louis panted breathlessly and offered up his neck for abuse. 

"Hmm." Harry nuzzles Louis' throat, his lips dragging over the boy's racing pulse. "Then say what you want to, baby boy."

Louis let's a rush of air escape his system. He welcomes Harry's mouth on his skin and his eyelids fluttered when the sinful sensations racing up his spine feel like silk threads on ice. Their slow pace makes it easier to speak, only the shocking pleasure spikes whenever Harry slams into him. 

"It- It becomes company property." Louis finishes his earlier statement, dragging Harry's lips across his cheek to his mouth. He joins them in a sloppy, spit slick kiss. 

"We'll send them a tape then." Harry parts Louis' lips with force and slips his tongue into Louis' mouth, hearing the boy gagging from lack of air supply.

He fucks into Louis' mouth with his tongue, dipping against the boy's wet muscle and the roof of his mouth. His husband whimpers and upon withdrawing, has wet and swollen lips. Suddenly the heat inside him plummets and he chokes on the sublime feeling of coolness rushing through him. 

"Feeling it, petal?" Harry holds himself still whilst rounding his hips, stretching and torturing Louis. 

"Yeah." Louis' head thumps against the glass table. "I miss feeling you properly, Daddy."

"Oh lover of mine." Harry nips at Louis' perfectly arched cheekbone and groans. "I don't want to pull out of you."

"Please." Louis sneaked a hand down between them to feel where Harry's buried deeply past his stretched rim. "Just- Just to take this damn thing off."

Harry chuckles and Louis whines to provoke an action from him. "Can I fuck you with my fist later if I do?"

Louis chokes on the lump in his throat and stares up at his outstandingly blunt lover with a frozen, gaping jaw. His awe and shock are replaced with embarrassment when Harry leans in and pecks both his parted lips, nibbling absentmindedly on to lower one with a low moan.

"Isn't that a sweet question to ask me, dear husband." Louis caresses Harry's hollowed cheek with his gentle knuckles, a little laugh teasing his lips. 

Harry grumbles something unintelligible and pins Louis' legs open, thighs eagle spread and his fingers digging into the warm flesh. Louis gasped at the obscene stretch that leaves him vulnerable to his possessive and carnivorous husband. He feels Harry's c*ck dragging against his tightened walls on its way out, the bulbous head popping out past his fluttering rim. 

"Condoms are awful." Louis pushed himself up and took Harry's length in his palm, peeling the latex sheath off hastily. "Never wear them again."

Harry's wide-blown eyes meet Louis' and a growl bubbles out from his chest, all his strength focused on flattening Louis on the table. "You have my word, baby."

"Why'd you want to- _oh_." Louis silences himself, lips rounded in a perfect circle when Harry bottoms out again. He's filled to the brim and then some, Harry's girthy c*ck pushing into him to fit snuggly inside his body. 

"You were saying, petal?" Harry smirks down at his petite and perfect lover, biting his lip seductively.

Louis worships Harry when he's like this. Sweaty and with his long, dark curls clinging to the sides of his visage. He's ethereal and sexy looming formidably above Louis like he'll protect the boy from the world. 

"Daddy." He sucks down a sharp breath and holds onto Harry's flexing biceps, legs crossing behind Harry's back. "I love your c*ck so much."

Harry chuckled and leaned down to connect their lips, pulling out using his own sweet time to do so. After he's given Louis enough time to breathe he plows back into his boy, swallowing up that groan he hears from Louis that's twinged with pain. He repeats the motion with firm, hard thrusts that stuns Louis' senses and has him seeing stars.

"That's all you love about me, baby?" Harry hikes Louis' plump hips up further and pounds into him with fervent hunger for the silky texture of Louis' walls. 

"N-No." Louis whines and squeezes his eyes shut so he can savour the gruesome thrusts he's getting aimed at his prostate.

Harry doesn't let Louis speak any further and fucks into him non-stop, pushing Louis upward and onward to his highest degree of pleasure. He feels the stressful clenching of Louis around him before the boy comes hard onto his clenching abdomen. Harry slams into him once more before he let's go and let's his seed fill Louis up.

He rides out their climaxes for them both, grinding harshly with little lube and sweat to aid their heated skin. Louis is panting raggedly and starts to fuss when Harry drops to the floor, drawing the boy down with him. He's cradled in his husband's lap and still hasn't gotten off his c*ck but Louis is far more comfortable this way.

"So, baby." Harry kisses the top of Louis' head and keeps pecking the side of the boy's face to amuse him. "Tell me about yourself."

Louis rolls his eyes before closing them and giggles drunkenly, fitting himself in under Harry's chin. "Do you really not know enough about me?"

Harry curls his arm around Louis' shoulders and tightens the other one around Louis' waist. "Go on. Tell me something new, baby boy."

"Alright." Louis cuddles up to Harry when his body heat goes down and he can't maintain it once again without his husband's aid. "Well, I'm married."

He hears Harry's little snort of higher derision. "Yeah?"

"Hmm." Louis hums and goes on. "I love peaches and strawberries. Ice tea is great in summer and hot cocoa is perfect for winter."

Harry tilts Louis' head back and he's smiling devilishly upon the beginning of their tender kiss. A soft sound follows when the skins part and Louis laces his fingers through Harry's. He grins when he gets a peck on his nose and tugs on Harry's curl when he's tickled. 

"If you're married-" Harry clears his throat and picks up Louis' disregarded panties. "-then why are you on your office floor with me?"

"Don't know." Louis grabs his lacey underwear only to have it re-stolen by Harry. "They might spank me for doing this."

Harry raises a scandalised eyebrow at his lover, a smirk curling his lip. "Is that something you'd like?"

Louis brought his lips to Harry's ear and lowers his voice to something caramel thick and lascivious, all sex appeal and no innocence coming from the angel two brothers utterly destroyed. He deftly works blindly to tie his panties around Harry's tattooed wrist before speaking. 

"I'd _love_ that."

When Tuesday ended so sweetly, Wednesday had to start on its head. Louis woke up late and had a remarkably sore arse from the thorough spanking he wished he hadn't begged for. Edward had to be prodded and poked into waking up just to get Louis to work fifteen minutes late, which aggravated the boy's incompetent temporary boss.

Louis spent all day trying to man the tasks he has by handling the Herculean outreach programmes awarded to his sector of the company. He has four meetings in one day and his PA is on leave in lieu of the man above them being the creature that crawled out of the depths of Hell.

Caffeine and bagels with overdoses of cream cheese every three hours kept Louis going until he had to go home. That home of his that was in a stormy silence as Harry resigned from his purpose of torturing Edward with the cold shoulder, and was being pinned to the bed.

"Fuck you for thinking that was funny." Edward tore off Harry's shirt like it didn't cost enough to pay for a microwave. 

His lips met Harry's in a blurry, agonised haste when he secured both sides of his brother's face and stuck his tongue into Harry's mouth. The latter didn't care beyond scratching down Edward's back and leaving red marks that were so deep they bled all over his fingers. He deepened them to hear Edward's pleasured groan against his lips, his bulge becoming prominent under Edward.

"Didn't think it was funny." Harry had the wind knocked out of him when Edward climbed off him, bright red streaks across his toned body, only to be flipped over violently. "You deserved it, bastard."

Edward growled and bit the back of Harry's neck until the tiniest hints of blood reached his tongue. He got on the mattress behind his sibling and pushed him down in frustration, bloody lips kissing down the column of Harry's spine. Just before the taut curve of Harry's behind he stopped and crawled back up, yanking his brother's sweatpants down just under that curve.

"You put me through Hell." Edward grunted and undid his fly to release the angry c*ck it clothed. "I'm going to fuck the regret right out of you."

Harry chuckled like it was preposterous, the glint in his eye and lick to his lips all twice as sinister. "You can fucking try."

Edward was determined and hardly prepped Harry beyond two fingers which he hurriedly shoved into his brother with minimal lube. He pumped them in and out, curled his fingers and stretched the tight rim with two other fingers like he was purposefully torturing Harry. He heard the other groan but it only made him persevere and lick a fat stripe across the bruised hole, before plunging deep into it.

Harry screamed from such an absurd type of pain flooding his system but he was just as aroused by its fire. He fisted the sheets and bit Edward's lip when it came near him, engulfed by the possessive hold Edward had on his hips.

"Sorry yet?" Edward tormented him by asking, slipping a hand between the mattress and Harry to grip the latter tightly around the base of his c*ck. 

"Fuck you." Harry mumbled around his bite on Edward's earlobe, shuddering ungratefully when his brother pulls out and slams in. 

Friction from lack of lubricant and Edward's harsh thrusts left Harry sore and with a very exploited bottom. He was pinned down and fucked until the easiest thing was clinging to the headboard with both clenched fists and the hardest was _breathing_. 

For two hours they went at each other like raving, starved freaks. Edward held onto Harry's thighs to push them forward and apply all the pressure to his c*ck that's hanging heavy and ignored. Harry groaned into Edward's mouth when he was allowed to kiss him, tongues flickering and kneading to distract him.

Edward's pace is brutal and unforgiving. He manages to switch their positions somewhere between granting Harry his first of many orgasms, and have Harry planted on his waist. His twin sits there idly for a short time, before uniting their lips by dragging Edward's mouth to his and greedily humping the arch of Edward's extremely lower abdomen.

"I haven't been inside this ass in far too long." Edward pants while lying on his back, hands roaming the silky sheets. 

"Not ashamed to admit that, are we?" Harry tortures him with a spiteful grind from his taut and dense hip region. 

Fucking Louis was different to when he took Harry's body under his control. Louis was soft and warm and full of breathy, high-pitched whimpers. He thrashes about and screams, unafraid to make all the noise in the world. His scent, taste and voice was perfect to mould under their palms, to dominate without care. 

Harry was far less so. His body was muscular and tough on the exterior, sex with him was fierce enough to have _them both_ bruised somewhere. He was Edward's mirror but so much about him was contrasting Edward's personality. The beauty that lingered inside Harry was ferocious and predatorial, half as intimidating yet twice as deadly.

Louis drove himself home at something to six after he tended to the tedious whims of his employer and walked into his apartment that smelt suspiciously of vanilla. He dropped his keys in the ceramic bowl by the door and froze over when the plainly audible groans and other breathy noises came from the bedroom. 

He waited for a few beats, silently taking in the sounds floating about their apartment. The bed was undoubtedly creaking by the way the rhythm is created never relented, and whispered words followed suit. Stuttering in step and thought, Louis made his way to the bedroom after toeing off his shoes. He cautiously pushed the door from where it was cracked open and walked in ignorantly.

A pout formed on his lips when he was entirely exposed to the escapade guarded by the door, feeling more than a twinge of envy at the _very nude_ state of his husbands. "Really?"

Harry had a cigarette - he hasn't had one in a few weeks - and blew cold grey fog into the air above his head. That head which was cradled by Edward's muscular and desirable abdomen. They were both positively indecent and blissfully unaware of Louis' flaming cheeks.

"Something displeases you, petal?" Edward's never been the one to look fucked out but if at anytime he was, it was now. 

He smirked with swollen and bitten lips, hair dishevelled to an unholy degree and his skin was still flushed. Louis felt sympathy for their bed sheets as his favourite one lay strewn on the floor and _ripped_ down the middle. One pillow was torn and he didn't dare ask why, feathers floating in the air and landing on every surface.

"Nope." Louis hears a mewl from the living area and remembers that they have a cat now, one that requires food and attention. He sighs.

"Ignore the creature." Harry remarks with a frown etched into his brow. "It'll die eventually."

"That's cruel." Louis strips off his jacket and drops it somewhere on the floor before making his way back into the lounge.

Out from nowhere specifically jumps a black as night kitten with white socks on its paws and looks up at Louis with individual stars clasped in each sparkling eye. Louis lifts the tiny feline in his hold and goes into the kitchen to find some milk.

"You poor thing." He scratches the kitten's head and fills a saucer with milk, feeling the fidgety movements from an excited pet. "You must have seen an awful lot today, huh?"

Another meow comes his way before said kitten pounces on its milk treat. It laps at the rippling liquid while Louis switches off the lights and draws the curtains closed at last. He ventures back into the bedroom after gathering his wits about himself. 

"Are the two of you ever going to move?" He starts unbuttoning his shirt while traipsing into the darkened closet. 

Edward clears his throat after accepting a drag of Harry's cigarette. "We have no immediate plans, petal."

"Too bad." Louis walked out with a pile of fresh linen that he tossed unceremoniously at them. "Change the sheets while I take a shower."

Usually there'd be a cheeky comment from Harry and some remark from Edward that put him in the shower with Louis, but none were heard this time. They both pulled themselves up and Harry gave Louis' cheek a kiss because he hadn't properly greeted his petal yet. 

Louis showers in peace using up most of the hot water and comes out feeling as fresh as a daisy. He towels off his hair until it's lightly damp and pulls on some comfortable sleepwear. His plans for the night are to sleep until he absolutely has to wake up.

Thursday and Friday of that week went by in the same breath, one that Louis wasn't too fond of. He wished he didn't resent the mood set in their home so much but he did. For the remaining two days he drove himself to and from work, had no visits from either husband during his lunch breaks, and often called Dory or a friend to occupy his empty time.

He wasn't neglected and he'd never say so, but it surely felt like the universe was implying it. His life was wonderful and so were his husbands that he loved so dearly but in the matter of two days they managed to leave him feeling isolated. From being completely co-dependent to alone was a swing too great for Louis.

Louis forgave them because he knows how close they are and the time Harry spent hating Edward took time from that bond. Their constant and animalistic sexual escapades weren't tiring them out as they so desperately tried to stitch what was only frayed. He didn't blame them for anything but that didn't make him feel any better.

Two whole days passed by without more than lazy greetings from either party and sometimes a distracted shared meal. Louis had a permanent frown and neither twin seemed to notice, even though they kissed him lightly all the same. He sometimes tried to hold on longer but his anchors no longer wanted to be grounded.

The pain was soon indescribable. What started out as a method for coping became what starved their relationship. Louis slept for shorter hours and ate less but none of his weight was lost because it was only a matter of two or three days. The rapid decline in his outward personality was astonishing because he loved two men, the two men that possessed his whole heart and without it properly cared for he was lost.

Saturday dawned at last and Louis opened his eyes after three hours of sleep, blinking away his exhaustion to sit up. He discovers something odd about the feel of this mattress shortly before discovering that it's actually the couch where he fell asleep last night. On him lay a curled up kitten that's fast asleep.

"Petal?" Someone with a familiar raspiness in their voice. He shot up from his uncomfortable position with a kink in his neck and back. 

"Yeah?" He left the kitten purring in his place while padding quietly into the kitchen. 

It was Harry digging around in the fridge for ingredients to make something special the way he always did. The thought that maybe he'd be included in this made Louis smile. His husband picked his head up out of the refrigerator and he held up a carton of milk.

"Do we have anymore?" He asks and doesn't register just how quickly Louis' face falls.

After shakily handing Harry the remaining box of fresh milk, Louis decided to carry out an experiment. He showered while Edward slept and made no noise while dressing up or when he texted Liam. Edward woke up only when Harry made an effort to pull him out of a slumber and by then Louis was gone.

"Hey Lou." Liam meets him at the diner they both agreed on and waves Louis over to his table by the window.

"Hi." Louis slides into his cold seat and hopes his voice doesn't waver. "How are you doing?"

"Great." The man in suede shoes and a leather bomber jacket smiled like it was already his wedding day. That warmth rubbed off easily on Louis. "And you?"

"Fine, yeah." Louis picks up his menu, doesn't read it and orders a sugarless tea with three identical cookies. "How's Niall? I haven't talked to him in a while."

"You haven't? He's gone back home for a bit." Liam goes on when Louis' expression turns quizzical. "Family matters."

Louis laughed and casually rolled his eyes. "You don't listen much, do you?"

"Nah." Liam waves off Louis' observation with a chuckle. "That's more Zayn's territory."

"Oh yes. The knight in painted armour." Louis teases and crosses his legs under the tall table. "How's he?"

"Good. He's overdone it with the spray painting and Niall hid all his art stuff about a week ago." Liam breaks one of Louis' cookies in half. "He found it in the washing machine."

"That's a very Niall thing to do." Louis looks out the window at the people and cars. It's finally a little sunny in Seattle and the irony is belittling. 

"Wait so-" Liam sits back in his chair with a ponderous look. "-you called me first before anyone else?"

"Maybe."

"Should I be worried?" His companion sips from the heated rim of his coffee mug. "I'm about to get married, you know."

Louis nibbles on his chocolate chip cookie with sticky lips whilst sipping from his warm tea. The sunlight is disappearing behind light grey clouding that's signalling ahead of time that there's a storm coming. The thick grey clotting wool in the sky reflects Louis' mood and how miserable he feels inside.

Once looking down from the floating clouds he realises that driving home in a thunderous outburst from Mother Nature isn't going to be his only struggles. Somewhere a few feet away from the quaint and lovely coffee shop a jet black Jeep with no licence plates comes to a sprinting halt. 

Pebbles spray out from underneath the pressure of the speeding tyres, skid marks left behind on the painted gravel. Louis takes a deep breath and holds it, emotive fire fuelling the storm brewing in his ribcage. Liam is signalling their waitress for something but Louis can't see that or anything else, just that someone is jumping off the Jeep and slamming the door shut so soundly that the echo causes vibrations.

He pities whoever that person came to handle up until he sees who said new arrival was. Then he _fears_ for their victim because it's none other than _him_.

Edward is on his way to the diner entry, looking like a force to be reckon with. His opened shirt bellows in the harsh wind and he rakes an aggravated hand through his hair, smoothing it out. His eyes are downcast for the three steps at the door where he shoulders past a young woman obnoxiously.

"Damn it." He immediately starts gathering his few belongings and whilst continually glancing up to monitor the time he has left.

"What's going on?" Liam is confused by the way he looks up at Louis' little worried face. 

Louis pauses after getting to his feet, phone in hand and dropping money on the table. Edward doesn't immediately come over to him after entering the coffee shop even though every single soul that resided in it stopped taking in air. Everyone froze over in time because Edward Styles was still a well enough known face and he held his head high _always_.

Edward goes to the counter and he's too far to be audible at Louis' range. It takes a minute or two but Louis soon registers something with a heavy, agonising feeling in his heart. _Edward didn't come for him._ He takes a deep breath when the corners of his exhausted eyes sting with the promise of tears and seals them. 

Air doesn't come easy to him as it is, and the undying sensation of betrayal is rotting his insides. From chest to pierced navel he feels incompetent and silly, so very mistreated. All those emotions come to a climax and the noise in his head is too great to be captive any longer. Louis swallows the talons clawing its way up his throat, shredding flesh and scarring tissue. He opens his eyes.

"Let's go for ice cream." Louis proposes, voice thick with hurt and harvested anguish. "Please, Liam."

"You're just like Niall, you know that." Liam slaps down the green bills necessary to cover his half of the check. 

"Yeah?" Louis gives him a wry and heartless smile. "We both make bad decisions."

Instead hears the organ squished under his shoe when he looks up and Edward's only looking his way now. Surprise mars those beautiful features and Louis' gone out the back before he can be followed.

**_[A/N: Angst bc I let happyilylarry down in Dominus o.O I already can't handle this. - S xx]_ **


	12. X.

**_[A/N: Fish and chips inspired. Blame happilylarry for any and all heartaches induced by this chapter o.O I MEANT NOT L, E, H. LOUIS, HARRY AND EDWARD WILL NOT DIE. - S xx]_ **

The streets of Seattle were swarming with cars from the afternoon rush. Every working individual was on their way home and just one among them, didn't know where his home was anymore. The streetlights were coming to life as the sky was taken over by navy silk threads.

Ice cream had not been the greatest idea ten minutes ago, nor was it remotely acceptable when Louis hid from Edward's shadow whilst getting it. His husband had followed him out of the coffee shop but lost sight of the blue eyed wonder somewhere in the midst of a pedestrian crossing. Louis watched Edward turn around from a park bench across the street, observed his loved one get in the car and drive away.

"You know-" Liam has mint chocolate ice cream on his nose and Louis offers him a tissue to clean it. "-if Zayn were here he'd kill me."

Louis has the decency to snort in amusement and bite into his sugarcone, staring at the people and shops lining the opposite sidewalk. "Why would he do that?"

"He's a crazy bastard." Liam chuckles at his own joke, letting Louis' knee rest against his. "One time Niall wanted hot chocolate. Zayn refused to let him have more than four little marshmallows."

"Woah." For a moment, just _one_ , Louis is distracted from the all encompassing nausea twisting his gut. "Really? That's slightly absurd, Liam."

"Yeah." His companion shakes his head at the fond memory of Niall stealing all the little marshmallows after that. "We haven't spent time together in a while now, haven't we?"

"Hmm." Louis gets a mild brain freeze from biting into his ice cream, squinting as it slowly disipitates. "We're rectifying that right now, Liam."

Liam takes out his phone to check on it when the device starts buzzing. He bites his lip. "Sorry, Lou. Gotta take this."

"Sure." 

While Liam walks a small distance to the left of their bench to obtain some privacy, Louis dumps his ice cream into the bin. All the treat did now was sicken him as his broken heart was leaving him disparaged, his insides in ruin. The sweetest tastes burned like acid. 

He picks himself up from his seat and kicks a pebble on the ground to entertain himself. Thinking about _anything_ other than the bed he was no longer welcome in made it easier. He gave his heart away to men who forgot the power they wielded over his existence. His chest has shrivelled into a tight locket made of rusted steel, its sharp edges poking relentlessly at his aching heart. It bled and with each gush, a little more of him chipped away. 

A hand touched his lower back and Louis suspected it was Liam, so he didn't shout or jump. He also hadn't reacted out of shock because his body and mind are as drained as they've ever been. 

"Li-" Louis just about covers his scream when he looks up, fists balling up in his jacket pockets. 

Dexter was a tower of testosterone and horror. His eyes were gateways into each memory he's ever had and his calloused skin was was evidence of each one. Dressed in a black trench coat over suit pants and dress shoes, Louis has seen this man so many times without warning that he doesn't experience the fearful shivers like every other time.

"Dexter." He looks around the intimidating presence at a distracted Liam who is too far away. "What-"

"I need your help." The man whispers although the buzz of being in public makes it already difficult to hear. 

"W- Huh?"

Red hair and invigorating green eyes turn twinkly and amused, hand shoved into his pockets as he leans a bit closer. Of all the times Louis' been in close proximity to Dexter, this had to be the most pleasant. 

"How did you f-find me?" Louis asks, arching backward to avoid physical contact with Dexter. 

Dexter doesn't answer his question, instead choosing to step back and glance over his shoulder. "Excuse yourself from your friend and we'll leave."

Red flags go up all over Louis' mind when he thinks about going through with this. His stomach sinks to the ground beneath his feet and he feels like a black hole was activated where his lungs should be. When he breathed, the air got sucked in and stayed in that empty space so he felt like he was swelling up. 

It hurt most to think that the twins might not even try looking for him again, or they may only to fulfil their husbandly duties. Louis wants to crash to the ground everytime he thinks about the state their union has been reduced to. He swallows and nods bravely, stepping around Dexter to approach Liam.

"I have to go." He whispers to Liam with vague hand gestures, kissing his friend's cheek before leaving. Liam smiles and touches his elbow to bid him adieu whilst still talking to whoever he was.

"Hang on." He tells the person on the other line. "Bye, Lou."

"Bye!" 

Louis is a few feet away and when Liam stops to wave a bit, notices that he rejoins a familiar face. One that he can't place exactly because of a mere side profile. _Where has he seen red hair so vibrant and outstanding before?_

"Liam, fucking listen to me!" He returns to his call with a frantic and husky Zayn trying to race through telling him something. 

His fiance pinches his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger. "Yeah, yeah. I'm here, babe."

Zayn is shuffling papers around on his desk at work, mind racing with the latest report he's been asked to conduct. "Remember Middleston?"

"Yeah." Liam doesn't want to recall that shadowy time in his life, but he does so with a concentrated frown. "What about it, Zayn?"

"A team of guys were called out there to help, myself included." Zayn's chair squeaks against the waxed floor as he pushes it back. "The Madhouse was burned down."

"What?" Liam turns stiff at his shoulders and his mind goes a little numb. "Really, Zayn?"

"Yeah. I'm going down there later today but the local police reported over thirty dead so far."

Liam's mind swings him back to being in that awful establishment. Being taken. The captivity. The rats. Immediately he remembers who that red-haired stranger was and spins around to search for it. Worry for Louis develops to Herculean levels as he scans the crowd and can't see anything flaming red or Louis' small figure either.

"Fuck." Liam starts moving in the direction of _anywhere_ and shoves through people desperately. "Fuck. Fuck. I'll call you back, Zayn."

  
* * * * *  


"Harry!" Edward shouts as soon as he's in the apartment, not even shutting the door behind him. 

He has sweaty palms and a racing heartbeat that's pounding rapidly, the vibrations can be felt inside his skull. He saw Louis today, their own lovely Louis who he hasn't held dear for days. Harry walks out of the bedroom in a freshly showered state. 

"Where's our petal?" Harry asks him, ignoring Edward's troubled and dishevelled state. 

"I-" Edward stands against the pillar in their kitchen, punching the cold concrete but ridding himself of no tension. "Fuck! I lost him."

"What?" Harry scowls at his brother that's fond of riddles. 

Edward's knuckles were deeply bruised, purple and blue blossoming. He beats once more on the pillar structure because self-hatred has never festered in every part of his soul like this. How could he be so neglectful and _stupid_?

"Edward." Harry glares powerfully at his older brother over the kitchen island. "Where is my boy, brother? I need to see him."

  
* * * * *  


"Where are we going?" Louis has been walking beside Dexter for half an hour now and his feet got sore ten minutes ago.

Dexter reaches the edge of a street and takes Louis' hand. He means nothing by it and Louis can ascertain as much by how limp the grip on him is, no personal agenda underway. Louis is led across the intersection and towards a giant grey parking structure.

"You know I love my star." Dexter states bluntly, dark beady eyes darting sidewards to watch Louis. 

Louis thinks that this may be the simplest answer to a question, because if anyone was as in love and relentless as this it had to be unfathomable stages of love. "Yes."

"Good." Dexter stops in front of a silver SUV with blackened windows and no licence plate number. "I need you to help me get ready."

"Get ready? What for?" Louis hesitates at the passenger side door that's opened for him and waiting, chewing anxiously on his bottom lip.

Dexter taps his foot impatiently but remains cordial in everything else. His intense stare burns Louis' skin like molten lava and the boy feels his blood start to simmer. Sensations along the surface of his body prickles in the most uncomfortable way. He swallows with a sore throat and wraps his arms around himself.

"He has given me one chance." Dexter allows him to know this, meeting Louis' eye. "And I know you don't want to go back to my sons so soon."

Louis' eyes widen in surprise but hides all the other turmoil brewing beneath his bones in the tiniest cavities of his body. He's given up asking how Dexter knew things. "Okay."

  
* * * * *  


"Pick up the fuckin' phone!" Harry snaps at his brother, knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. 

"It's Liam." Edward doesn't shift an each while Harry breaks every traffic law known to man. "What the fuck does it matter?"

Harry grabbed the device and answered it himself. "What?"

"Where's Louis? Is he with you?" The questions drove bullets into Harry's ribcage one at a time, each syllable a bleeding curse. 

"No." Harry gulps thickly and skips a red light entirely, missing a severe crash by less than an inch. "We don't know where he is."

"You need to find him." Liam says it lowly and with lingering concern. "The Madhouse has been burned down."

Harry hangs up and tosses the phone into the back seat, not caring for the unceremonious tumble the object suffers. Edward is too torn up on the inside to operate outwardly without making a series of broken sounds, gasps for air that won't reach him and worry that plagues him.

"What if we lost him?" Edward mutters under his breath but Harry hears and curses such a question.

"We didn't." He grits through clenched jaws. 

Edward doesn't want to go easy on himself. He deserves every ounce of misery the demons in his head have in-store for him. "We could have." 

"Well we _didn't_." 

Harry refused to accept any notion indicating the possibility that they've hurt their petal. He wants to get back to normal with cuddles and shared meals. That's his simple dream for their unorthodox family and merely hinting that Louis wants to be away from them hurts him deeply.

They slow down when they're driving past the ice cream stand and park Edward recognises, but Louis is nowhere in sight. With thumping hearts and a sensational nagging at the back of their heads, the brothers move on to the coffee shop. Louis isn't there either but his car is, parked and waiting outside the little cafe with no sign of the boy.

"We fucked up." Edward confesses without shame, kicking the dirt to get rid of some malevolent energy. "We fucked up so badly and he left us."

"He didn't _leave_ , brother. Why the fuck would you say that?" Harry was getting hotter under the collar as each second rolled by. 

"Well-" Edward combs his fingers through his hair, pulling on it frustratedly so it hurt. "-we didn't pay attention to him for days. He's not used to that. He's always been our petal."

"He still is." Harry leans back against Louis' car, the freezing cold temperatures barely nipping at his skin. 

Not like it did with Louis. Their boy would get so cold so quickly it astonished them. He always needed them to help keep him warm because he used to say: "All the blankets in the world don't keep me as warm as you two." 

They neglected someone so sweet and innocent, always on their side. He did everything he could to stand by them and for three days they couldn't give him a stitch of affection. They were monsters and they left him all alone, not picking up on the passive signs that Louis was upset. He refrained from saying a word and thinking about how they've mistreated Louis makes Harry feel like he's lying impaled on a spoke.

"We'll find him." Harry declares. He'll cut off his arm and lose all his senses before he gives Louis up. "We'll bring him back."

For the first time in their history, Edward wasn't the dominant one and he was sinking into a pit of anguish. He's so accustomed to knowing Louis was always there, in his home or willing to be in his arms. He took his husband for granted and he never wants to be forgiven.

  
* * * * *  


"I'm helping you lure my best friend into cheating on his fiances." Louis says disgustedly to himself. "How pathetic."

"Hardly so." Dexter pulls out of the parking lot and drives past a quaint coffee shop a little faster than usual. "You're helping your best friend be with the only one who deserves him."

Louis scoffs but it lacks condescension. If he's going on a trip around town with the third psychotic person in his life, he's planning to forget his own misery and have fun with it. In lieu of this profound inspiration, Louis kicks off his shoes and crosses his legs on the foreign leather seat.

"And you think you're the one who truly deserves him?" Louis raises an eyebrow at the driver of this vehicle. 

"Of course." Now it's Dexter's turn to scoff in disbelief. 

"What's his favourite colour then?" Louis tests him on his dedication to Niall.

Dexter laughs first before shaking his head, dagger teeth appearing so harmless in a broad smile. "He only despises the colour pink."

Considering that answer is correct, Louis sighs and turns forward again. He knots his fingers together and fiddles with his seatbelt. "Why do you try so hard?"

This sobers their conversation immensely and Dexter looks at him for a long minute whilst they're at a red light. He looks back at the road when Louis lifts his head up. "If I don't do all that I can to win him, I'll spend this world and the next regretting every choice."

"You believe in Heaven and Hell?" Louis questions curiously. The prospect of an afterlife was despised by his husbands but the diversity between them and Dexter was riveting.

"Yes." Dexter pulls onto a street that's lined with shops and boutiques. "I will have Heaven when I have my star, and Hell in every other moment."

Louis can't bring himself to open his mouth again after that confession. There lies a deeper meaning to everything Dexter said and the man was truly complex to dissect psychologically. He hated so much, harsh and cruel to the most innocent of things. His one weakness, the one thing he treasured more than his own sons, was in the form of one person.

First of all the steps in their unplanned outing, Louis is taken to a custom tailor's store with authentic retro wood furnishings. It's like stepping into an Al Pacino movie for Louis, with the pocket watches and hustler type owners to go with it. He walks silently behind Dexter while some details are done and confirmed.

"You have to pick one." Dexter tells him after Louis' gotten comfortable on a little loveseat with a candy bar. 

He looks up and there are two choices presented to him, one with a red silk inner lining and the other with a navy. Louis breaks off chunks from his chocolate bar whilst thinking them over.

"Red." He decides. It was a vivid shade that did justice to such an appealing, sensory colour. 

"Alright then." 

Dexter handles all transactions after that with getting his size and walking out with the clothing in an upright bag. Louis can't see this day being a very entertaining one but he also subconsciously reminds himself that every minute he's here, he isn't self loathing at home. He could do without being blatantly disregarded for a day.

"So where will you be taking Niall?" He asks when his thoughts start to wander and he can't risk being dragged back to his personal Hell. 

"A French restaurant First Avenue." Dexter lays his suit out in the back seat, shoes in a spacious box on the floor. 

"Good choice." Louis dumps his chocolate wrapper in the bin and looks around him for another reason as to why he's standing outside. "Where to next?"

"We have to buy him a gift." Dexter informs Louis, nodding in the direction of an antique shop not three doors down. 

The boy puzzles over this selection. He's known Niall for all of half a decade and not once has his friend hinted at a fondness for old, rustic ornaments. "Antiques?" 

Dexter puts his hands in his pockets after locking the car and walks alongside Louis. "I had them carve a locket made of wood."

"Oh." Louis rounds his lips curiously. "Do you think he'll like it?"

A little smirk curls the corner of Dexter's mouth. "That's what you're here for, Louis."

The locket turns out to be exquisite and Louis recommends that Dexter buy a thousand of them. Inside were no two pictures of anyone for Niall to always remember, just a simple emerald stone that sparkles. Louis recognises it after he looks up and sees an exact mirror image in the shape of Dexter's eyes. 

"This is very sweet, Dexter." He tells the man as the locket is being paid for. "He's going to love it."

Dexter takes the black leather case from the shop owner and gives it to Louis for safekeeping. They walk out into the street and the sky has done unto itself a far less appealing blackening shade of navy. "I want him to wear it, not admire it from afar."

Louis bites the inside of his cheek and hums. "Okay."

"Now-" Once they're in the SUV again where Louis doesn't have to battle the possibility of hypothermia, Dexter wants to finalise his plans. "-tell me what I'm missing."

"Um- Okay." Louis has to contemplate all the little facts he's memorised about Niall through their years of friendship, whilst directing the heater towards him. "The French restaurant is a lovely idea but Niall won't handle being formal for too long. Take him somewhere fun afterwards."

"Fun?" Dexter reminds Louis too much of Edward when he pronounces the word like a curse. "Elaborate for me."

Louis looks out the tinted window while he thinks. "Bowling. He loves bowling."

"Okay." Dexter is driving further away from where Louis knows is the direction to his home, which means there's somewhere else to go. 

"He can't actually bowl decently but he loves thee waxed floors." Louis rolls his eyes, thinking about the three times they went together and Niall just slid across the floor instead of playing the sport. "After bowling he has to have Oreos so I suggest an Oreo milkshake from the pub on Eleventh Street."

  
* * * * *  


"Call Dexter." Harry finally brings himself to say to Edward. 

"No." His older brother sends a deathly glower his way instead.

They have been driving through Seattle for hours now and the sky is too dark, everyone they know Louis knows is too unaware. Two hearts clenching inward until it starts bleeding through the muscle, tearing themselves apart for the biggest piece is missing. 

Edward feels like that vital organ lay more in his throat than in his chest. His heart no longer beats rhythmically and at ease, not like when Louis is there to caress his skin and kiss his lips. Thinking about Louis' confusion and hurt during the time that neither brother gave him the time of day takes Edward's innards and tosses them into a blender. Never has anyone experienced pain and remorse like this.

Harry is desperate to have Louis again, touch him and speak to him some more. He could no longer drive because his hands shook so violently and his hair was turning greasy with his sweat, the hints of white returning in streaks amongst chocolate brown. He wasn't blinking because in case he'd miss something important, leading to the whites of his eyes turning bloodshot red. 

_"Call him."_ Harry was only half pleading, half demanding in a low threatening voice.

"What do you think he'll do to help us?!" Edward spat, blowing his top off after hours of maintaining it. 

"He's going to help us find him." Harry calmly responds, eyes locked with every passing object through the window. "He'll have to."

  
* * * * *  


"Niall?" Louis has been brought to a decent but not up scale apartment complex just on the city's edge. 

It's brightly lit inside and cosy with the smell of something sweet and baked in the air. Dexter is walking behind him as he makes sure to lock the door and carry his own belongings over his arm. Louis looks over his shoulder, eyes filled with uncertainty, but Dexter nudges him along.

"You're back alre-" The voice starts coming from the kitchen along with footsteps then Niall appears in the doorway and he stops, shocked. "Lou?"

His best friend raises his hand to wave indecently with a sheepish smile. "Hi."

Dexter steps around Louis with his arms loaded and the latter sucks in his gut, looking away when he kisses Niall. Louis wrung his fingers together and paid attention to everything besides the couple. _Couple_. He's both disgraced and a tad joyous. Niall didn't deserve crazy but he certainly earned it.

The walls are plain white and the two couches are brand new, along with a television that's resting on the floor. A door against the opposite wall leads to a bedroom and the kitchen is lovely, small. Niall never cooks if he can help it so Louis is pleasantly surprised.

"Hey." Niall comes up to him when Louis has been avoiding his gaze for too long, touching his friend's arm. "He's in the other room now."

Louis looks at Niall with a tiny blush for being so silly, but smiles warmly anyway. His companion looks so glow-y and it's coming from _within_ , anyone can tell. Niall was so happy with Liam and Zayn, but something about Dexter's madness completed him.

"Yeah." Louis feigns a cough into his clenched fist. "So.....you're here?"

"Aha." Niall shrugs like he can't help it and tugs on Louis' arm to lead him further into the room. 

"You know-" Louis follows when he's led and ends up in the toasty kitchen. "-Liam and Zayn think you're back home."

Niall has the decency and humility to look ashamed, returning to the stove where he had something in a pot. "You spoke to them?"

"Just Liam." He replies, falling back against the granite kitchen island with his arms crossed and gaze investigative. 

"When?" Niall is not looking at him, instead stirring whatever contents were in the pot and concentrating on it. 

Louis tests their sturdiness of the counter before hoisting himself up onto it, something he never did at home _all on his own_. "Today."

Niall opens a transparent cabinet door above the stove and takes out three bowls, all plain white and ceramic. "Today?"

"Yeah." Despite hating the fact that their conversation was circling back to monosyllables, Louis keeps it up. "I....wanted to get out of the apartment and Liam agreed to meet me at a coffee shop."

"Oh okay." Niall casually remarks. "Want some soup?"

Niall and Louis turn on the television to watch something random and pointless, while they eat their soup with toasted slices of bread. It's silent and terribly awkward at first because they're so close together yet thousands of miles away mentally. Louis crossed his legs and hardly ate any of the soup he cradled in his plain bowl, admiring the magnificent aroma it gave off but unable to put it in his mouth.

"You know I'm just waiting for you to ask me what's in your head." Niall informs Louis, a short smile and harmlessness making his eyes shimmer. "Ask me, Lou."

"Okay." Louis let's an audible breath leave his body, looking over the back of the couch to make sure that they're alone.. "What are you _doing_ , Niall?"

"What?"

Louis combs a hand through his fringe and sighs, his mind racing with frustration and unease. "You're going to _marry_ Liam and Zayn, but you're here with someone else."

Niall isn't affronted by the questions and accusations. When he made the decision to be here instead of there, he prepared for the worst from Louis. "I know. I'm.....absolute shit for being so inconsiderate but _I can't help it_. Lou, of all people I thought you'd understand."

"What's that supposed to mean for me, Ni?" Louis sets the bowl down on the floor, frowning. 

"I-" 

For a moment, Niall looks to be regretting what he's about to see and Louis is terrified of hearing what it might be. Could he have been judged this whole time by his best friend? If so then what for? He already feels defensive before any snide comment can be made about his lifestyle.

"Louis." Dexter infiltrates their conversation when neither of them predicted he'd appear from the bedroom, looking altered none. He holds his phone out to Louis, a call in progress. "They found you."

Louis gets off the couch immediately as Dexter steps closer to him with the impending device, stepping back involuntarily. "Wh-Who?"

"I think you know who." Dexter walks up to him and secures the object in Louis' small fist, closing his short fingers around the wide phone. Devilish green eyes warned him silently while Dexter walked away just after that. 

Warned him about what, Louis ponders. He feels suffocated and asphyxiated, a plastic bag around his neck that is the phone in his hand. Niall pities him by the look his best friend is sending his way, but Louis must only shake his head and run out into the hallway. There nobody was and he could stare at the blackened screen with no pressure.

Heart pumping electric impulses along with his blood, it sends unkind shocks ticking through his system. He hears his blood stretching his vessels and how it prickles, turns to ice. His hand _trembles_ like it had no bone structure and his knees buckle, leaving him fallen against a wall beside him.

Was he ready to do this so soon? Louis certainly didn't feel like it. 

Instead of wasting more time and letting another minute pass on the call's ascending time count, Louis holds the device to his ear. There's nothing to hear on the other end of the connection for the duration of his first breath, shaky like his fingertips.

"Petal?" Harry's soul _thrives_ on the softest noises from Louis and this fear from his boy fuelled his worry to physical pain. 

Edward was there to speak second, his voice strangled like there's already a noose around his neck. "Petal. Baby, are you there?"

Louis contemplates keeping quiet and letting them stew in their obvious hurt, feel even an ounce of his pain. He isn't so cruel and never could be towards his beloved husbands no matter how deeply they hurt him. His heart could slice itself open but Louis was going to make sure that the blood it spilt was in their name.

"Baby, please talk to us." Harry sounds like he's choking on something unsavoury, like something claws its way onto his tongue. 

_"Louis. Say something."_ Edward could be pictured by Louis as being caught in a storm of anger and anguish. He was the worst with emotions and when they showed, Louis had to know how wounded a man Edward was. 

Louis sucks a sharp breath into his lungs and _hopes_ it'll be good enough. "Why are you calling?"

He came across as more bitter than he wanted, but he wanted to know if they only just stumbled across the realisation that he's as far away from them as he thinks he wants to be. Harry makes a pitiful and heartbreaking noise as part of his groan, like the cry one hears in an old English romantic tragedy. 

"Why wouldn't we call, baby?" Edward asks with a genuinely concerned tone, Louis' absence weighing heavy on his shoulders. "Why wouldn't we do everything we ever could to find you?"

Louis' lips quiver as he thinks about the passion behind their words, as certain of it as he is of the repairing hollow in his chest. "I thought you w-wouldn't."

Harry cuts across the phone call to speak. "Tell us where you are, angel. I have to see you."

"Why?" He couldn't bring himself to say anything else. Letting himself slip into giving in was already hurting.

Edward groans into the receiver and it isn't from infuriation, more like self-hatred and an essence of fear. "Please, baby boy. _Have mercy_. We can't be without you for any longer."

Louis chokes on a sob that builds and hacks into the flesh of his throat, leaving him a crippled voice. His abdomen clenches and his middle shivers as he breathes unsteadily. "I-I-.....- You didn't realise I wasn't _there_ anymore. How can I trust-"

"Baby. Petal. My love, _our_ love. I can never rectify what I've done and I'll never forgive myself for allowing you to feel as you did. You are our everything, petal, our whole world."

"Come back to us-" Harry says earnestly, his plea striking a match in his words. "-and we'll spend the rest of our lives making it up to you. Please don't.....- Don't leave us, petal. I couldn't survive it."

"I'd _never_ \- I won't leave you." Louis shakes his head to be more convincing, wiping furiously at his wet and stinging eyes. 

"We'll make it up to you, baby." Edward finds it in him to speak again, relief that he might be getting his boy back keeping him energetic. "Just come home, petal."

Harry opts for a faster route of events. "Tell us where you are, petal. We'll come get you."

Louis sniffles and wipes the dampness of his frozen yet flushed cheeks. He crosses his ankles and curls in on himself, half dropped to the floor where he could fold himself into a ball. It feels _exceptionally good_ to be one step closer emotionally to having this burden behind them. 

"I-I wanna come home now." He manages to say without chopping his words up with the emotions cascading through his uprooted system.

"Good boy, petal." Edward sounded as authentically relieved as any man who truly loved their spouse would be. "I'm so sorry, baby. Can you tell me where you are?"

"Not r-really." Louis was getting cold by sitting on the floor like this. He had no idea where Dexter brought him to and the streets were unmarked the closer they got. "I- There's a window."

Harry takes over while Edward tries to get the private number of Dexter's phone tracked via the internet. "That's great, petal. Can you look out that window for me?"

"O-Okay." Louis gets to his feet, albeit without much support, and shuffles over to the small stretch of a window between a fire hydrant and door. "It's too dark. I-I think we're at the end of the city and I can s-see a bridge far away."

"That's helpful, baby. Thank you." Harry sounds like he could be smiling, a short chuckle that's muffled by a sniff. "Daddy misses you, petal. Misses you _so much._ "

Louis swallows a thick lump in his throat and wishes upon the stars he can see twinkling in the sky, that he was close enough physically to them so he could simply fall into their embraces. His skin was cold and turning pale with goosebumps, his fingertips and toes frozen despite being well clothed.

"You're going to come home, petal? Right here with us where you belong?" Harry presses. He needs to hear it and he knows that Louis has enough moral ground to punish him by never replying, but how can he survive that?

"Yes, Daddy." Louis tries to mask his whimper at the cold that's nipping at his bare skin under his clothing. The revenge of ice cream on a day like this was building in his lungs. "I'm coming home."

Harry moves away from the phone for a moment before returning. "Edward found you, petal. We're coming to get you, alright?"

"Okay." Louis drums his fingers lightly on the windowpane and peers out into the world below him. "Daddy?"

"Yes, my love? I'm here." Harry replies softly, endearments like silk on Louis' skin and warm milk. 

"Do you still love me?" Louis' question came from a broken place, a fearful territory in his mind. He takes Harry's abrupt silence as means to explain. "I mean like you did before when you first said it?"

"Oh, my _precious love_." Harry mourns for his idiocy and stops moving when he's stuck by inner turmoil to the sidewalk. Edward is gone around the corner to get the Jeep but how can Harry move when he's heard this? "Do you think I not love you anymore, baby?"

Louis wants to shout no but for some reason that's not the answer to find his lips first. "I just want to....to know."

"Sweet, lovely boy of mine. I love you more and more each day, petal. Each moment. You're my beginning and my end, Louis." Harry professes in dire honesty and desperation, his passion unwavering. 

Louis is breathless just from hearing this from his husband. Words mean vast amounts to Louis because they can never be unsaid, just like the _raw_ emotions his husbands convey with a simple look. Their green and demented eyes can always examine Louis like an open book, failing but once to this purpose.

"I love you too." Louis smiles to himself, aa slight shadow of silhouette reflected by the window's glass. "Tell Edward for me."

Harry chuckles but it's only so as to mask the uncontrollable array of feelings that are causing his eyes to itch. "I will, baby. We're coming to take you home now."

Louis hears a small ding from the elevator behind him and his smile broadens. "Are you here already? The elevator is moving."

"No, petal." Harry answers, chewing on his thumbnail despite it having started to bleed. "It's probably someone else living on that floor."

"There aren't-" Louis triple checks that there are no other apartment doors besides Dexter's on this level. "There aren't any other apartments here, Daddy."

"Are you outside, petal?" Harry asks him next, getting more worried because he isn't _there_ where he should be.

"Yes."

Harry covers the speaker on his phone to tell Edward that driving faster is more acceptable than their current pace. "Go back inside, petal. Stay with Niall and Dexter until we get to you."

"Okay." Louis doesn't need any convincing as he watches the number escalate above the elevator doors. 

He rushes to the apartment door in just his socks and bare essentials as clothing, twisting the handle but getting nowhere. The door doesn't budge for his many attempts, knocking into it with his shoulder.

"It's locked." He tells Harry, a little panicked. "Daddy-"

"That's alright, baby. Call for 'em to let you in." Harry calmly instructs him to do.

Louis curls his fingers around Dexter's phone before knocking more urgently on the cold wooden door. Cold seeps through the material of his socks and settles into his bones unkindly. His knuckles tap without rhythm on the barrier, a little worry dawning on him as the elevator is one floor below him.

"Niall?" He calls through the door, twisting and jiggling the doorknob. The elevator comes to a halt just meters away. "Niall! Open the door!"

Within the apartment, Niall wakes up and hurriedly makes his way to the door with the only key it has. "I'm here, Lou. Calm down."

The elevator doors ding and the ascending numbers finally come to a stop. Louis bangs his fist against the door when they start to open. "Niall!"

Just in time, the door opens and Louis turns his head in time to see who comes out of the elevator. A familiar face in a knee-length trench coat that Louis saw not two hours ago. _Liam_. He's not alone either and when Louis just falls forward into the apartment, he catches a glimpse of olive tanned skin and an angered frown. _Zayn._

"They're here." Louis frantically tells Niall, slamming the door shut and locking it behind him. He could hear their heavy footsteps getting closer, his own blood pumping that audibly. 

"Who? Edward and-"

"No!" Louis hisses and knows he has to get away from the door, keep everything quiet. "Liam and Zayn."

"What?" Niall let's his devastatingly panicked best friend retire to the furthest corner of the living room, turning to Dexter with dread raining down on his features. "Why are they here? How did they find us, Dex?!"

Dexter takes Niall by his arm and pulls him out of the vicinity of the door, tugging the boy into his embrace where he was infinitely protected. A heavy and furious fist bombards the door with enough ferocity that it _almost_ gives way. Louis is called too but he's a bit more stubborn than ordinary.

"Louis!" Niall shouts across the room and at last everything goes dead silent, the knocking on the door ceasing. 

"Petal?" Harry's voice still carries through Dexter's phone but Louis ignores it in favour of making it past the door.

"They found out." Louis hollows his cheeks, chewing on the inside of one until the metallic traces of blood touches his tongue. "How did they find out?!"

None of them expect a bullet to ricochet through the apartment after ripping through the door's weak structure.

"Petal!" Harry hears it too, the release of a gun initiating its second round. A second bullet fires and it flies through the door, crashing into the pricey television so it falls to the ground.

Niall screams and Dexter tosses them both into the bedroom, not caring for whether they fall after their knees give out. The phone Louis held slides across the wooden panels under the bed, the light on it still flashing when Dexter slams the door shut, remaining on the other side of it.

"Dexter!" Niall shouts in a futile tone that does nothing to get the man back, dragging his nails down the door. "Dexter, no! My love, _come back_! Don't do this alone."

All Louis can feel is the ringing in his ear from a too severe impact with the ground, a pain of excruciating standards resonating through his body from his knee. That right knee of his that collided with the ground when he was tossed onto it, a mighty force that dislocated his knee. A bump was visible where the kneecap shifted, his screech adding to the malevolent makings of the night.

More gunshots echo on the other side of that door and Niall is a broken mess beside it, hugging his knees while Louis couldn't feel a thing on his besides the blistering tremors of agony that birthed new floods of it. Eventually every sound turned dull and empty, every sight was slowed down and bleak. 

Louis had blurry vision and black spots in that, only able to make out the few wholes blasting through the door. Puffs of feathers from torn pillows blew in the air. The wood was splintered and a bullet whizzed past Louis' ear, missing him because Niall grabbed his arm and yanked so suddenly. 

The intention was too concentrated. Louis' skull cracked against the edge of the bed and everything went black.


	13. XI.

**_[A/N: Thank you guys for the feedback on the previous chapters o.O and I hope these next few chapters are good enough. It's going to be chilled (sorta) for a while. - S xx]_ **

**The intention was too concentrated. Louis' skull cracked against the edge of the bed and everything went black.**

  
* * * * *  


Sounds haunt his blank unconsciousness. In and out Louis floats and sometimes the glaring fluorescent bulb is visible through his pale eyelids. His exhausted body refuses to move, to indicate that he's healthy. Mentally, Louis feels like someone's caged his thoughts and suppressed his attempts at communication.

A black curtain draped itself over his thoughts each time a finger twitched or his voice crackled. His body begged for rest the way his mind pleaded for interaction. Louis remained unconscious for under ten hours, before the need to overcome the monsters in his nightmares became too great.

They were each vicious and clambering their way through his emotions, ruining every ounce of sanity he possessed. Flashing images of holes being blasted through a nearby door and a gun too close to his skull. When he fell to the ground, his mind took him trip to the fracture it caused. He experienced that agony on a circulating basis, round and round it went, until finally he broke the rhythm.

He awoke with a jolt into an upright position, arms quaking as they supported his weight. This environment is foreign to him and he's on something soft, something hoisted. His eyes were closed for such a while that they slowly came out of their blindness now, dimming the bright white lights over his head. Sounds of voices and beeping reached his ear, each individual that spoke slowly breaking through the ringing in his sense.

"Petal."

Louis knew this voice and moved blindly towards it, eyes squeezing shut because those gunshots still echoed through his fragile mind. None of him was without a frail shudder everytime he breathed. A bed he discovered to be the object he sat on by tightening his fists around the sheets bundled around him, whimpers tumbling from his lips more than air.

"Baby boy."

More endearments from this familiar voice and Louis couldn't see where it came from. His eyes burned and his head felt maddeningly heavy. At last, there were arms encircling his waist as the bed dipped at his hip. Louis need only reach out an inch with a shaking wrist and he's scooped up onto the lap of his comforter, a body protecting his.

"Hey there, baby." _Harry._ Harry held Louis with a hand cradling his precious head and rubbing his back. "Breathe for me, lovely. How are you feeling?"

Louis' wits returned to be about him like an elastic band that snapped back into place after all the coaxing. He wraps his body around Harry, using just one leg because the other is numb and bandaged. Harry breathes in Louis' presence and scent, rocking their union in a soothing motion. 

"My precious, precious boy." Harry's arm snakes around Louis' back and traps him, the boy trying all the more to lessen the invisible distance between them.

The IV controlling his glucose and blood, the drip that kept him stable, began to tug on where it was buried in his arm. Its needle stung Louis' flesh from too much strain and space as he worked harder to be in Harry's possession. The man stood up and brought Louis closer to the steel stand, joining Louis on the bed.

"Say something to me, my lovely." Harry combed Louis' disarrayed chestnut hair and caressed the bump on his forehead. 

"Y-You're here." Is what Louis stutters as his first words and it chips away at Harry's stiffened heart. 

He nuzzles Louis' perfect clavicle and bundled up the boy against his chest, two thin woollen blankets covering the boy. "I'm right here, angel. Just for you."

Louis' dislocated knee was treated as soon as he was brought into the hospital's emergency room, and now the limb was bandaged to ensure no excess movement. Harry was careful not to jostle it when he cuddled Louis, curling his body around the boy. 

"Where's Edward?" Louis asks next, eager as always to have both his husbands near to him. 

"He's taking care of something, petal." Harry kisses down the side of Louis' face, temple to chin. "You won't have to wait long for him."

Louis liked hearing that and snuggled closer to Harry, impossible as it was. The man's familiar Old Spice cologne and his lingering evidence that it indeed was _Harry_ \- the green apple, spicy traces that always followed him - comforted Louis. This was the real world where he could fist the front of Harry's expensive shirt and not have the man care.

"Want him here." Louis mumbles and if Harry weren't an expert in sleepy Louis dialect, he'd have no idea what the boy said. "Now."

"Alright, baby." Harry took out his phone and shot a text off to Edward's number behind Louis' back. "He's coming."

Louis was a little nervous to see Edward and for the life of him couldn't tell why. He was bombarded with the mental impact of memories from when he last saw this world. His brow creased and he winced at the gruesome events he'd last witnessed, a pained noise leaving his dry lips.

"Shh, petal." Harry wrapped Louis up in his arms and gently rocked the boy to relax him. "You're safe now, love. I'm here. Never leaving you again."

"Promise me?" Louis' hands creep up to Harry's shirt collar that he grasps with a death grip. "Promise me, Daddy."

"I promise, angel boy. I swear it." Harry presses his lips firmly to Louis' forehead in a kiss, his own eyes stinging from inner turmoil. "They'll have to take my life to take me from you."

Louis hides himself in Harry's embrace and his chest hums from the protection that warmth offered. He was safest right here. "Did you save me, Daddy?"

Harry sucks in a sharp breath, staring blankly at the cold floor. "We'll talk about that later, petal. You need to rest now."

"I want Edward." Louis coughs without covering it and Harry chuckles from how delicate they feel against the fabric of his shirt. _"Daddy-"_

"Yes, baby. Hush now." Harry turns on his back so Louis can lie atop his chest anyhow he pleases. 

He frames Louis' perfect face in both his hands, looking into those marvellous blue eyes as they slowly reveal themselves. His thumbs graze Louis' soft, damp lips and brush his artful cheekbones. Louis leans into his touch effortlessly, a smaller palm encircling Harry's tattooed wrist.

"My beginning-" Harry pushes himself up to kiss Louis' forehead. "-my end-" His lips touch Louis' ones, tasting saltiness and dry skin. "-my only love."

Louis whimpers from the beautiful declaration and returns some affection with pecking Harry's lips twice over. He hugs his husband close and thinks he's forgotten how to kiss deeply, but compensates for the lack of skill with cuddling. Harry accepts each act eagerly and pats Louis' hip when it's time to settle down.

The sound of squeaking shoes against linoleum ensues from down the hall, the result of Edward running a distance to reach Louis. His lungs burned and he almost crashed into the doorway in an attempt to stop, nails bleeding when they dig into wood so deeply to ground himself. 

Wildly deranged green eyes settle on the boy almost asleep again on the hospital bed, and Edward forces himself forward. He has redeeming to do and it must be conducted with his beautiful Louis tucked into his arms.

Harry sees him first and nudges Louis' drowsiness aside, whispering something into the boy's hair. "Wake up and look, petal."

Louis' eyes reveal themselves in their fragile state from behind the mask of horror that haunted this boy. He sits up when Edward comes closer to him, hands fallen to his lap while Edward memorised every feature of this boy all over again. The contours of his eyes and the twitch of his fingers. 

Edward had the courage to move even closer and eventually came to a stop just where Louis could reach out and touch him. He was towering over the slightly hunched boy, sweat on his brow and his clenched fists shaking visibly. Louis looked up at him in trepidation only when Edward's deep frown worsened until it was _agonised_.

Green met blue in the blazing flame, in a storm that destroyed worlds, in a passion that ignited power. 

"Hi." Louis extended his arm upward to break the silence and was abruptly swept off Harry's lap.

He gasped from the whipping air over his skin, clinging to Edward's shoulders when he's hauled off solid ground. His healing leg is lifted as well, hooked over Edward's hip in a way that didn't hurt because Edward risked a sprain to support it. Louis' lips were met with Edward's and he relaxed instantly, sinking into his lover so easily.

Edward's taste was new and heated, sharp teeth nipping at Louis with a frown etched onto his brow. Louis suffered a tugging on his arm where the IV was stretched too far, creaking as it dragged across the floor closer. Edward was wreckless in this moment. 

"Oh darlin'." Edward exhales audibly like this is his first breath. "I feared the worst. I almost lost you, petal."

"Never, Daddy. You'll never lose me." Louis argued fervently with his fingers curled around Edward's sleeves to grip it tightly, one leg wrapped around the man's hip. "What were you taking care of?" 

Edward smiled in a small way and brought Louis' hand to his lips, kissing each small knuckle. "Don't worry about it, petal. Let's get you back into bed."

Harry is off the hospital mattress by then, shoving his phone deep into the confines of his jeans pocket. He makes his way around the structure between the two units of their marriage and braces his hand on the small of Louis' back. Edward almost doesn't let him go, if it hadn't been for the unimpressed glare Harry gave him.

"Sleep for us, baby." Harry laid Louis down under the few covers the hospital provided him with, two blankets and draping his trench coat over the boy as well. It engulfed his small frame well enough. 

Louis sat us once again at Harry's tone. "Where are you going? You promised you wouldn't _leave_. Why-"

"We're not going anywhere, baby. Not without you." Edward reassures him with a smile and kiss on his nose. "We're going to be right here the entire time."

"Okay." Louis blushed - a good sign for his recovering blood supply - and flinched when a dull throb regains its momentum in his skull. _"Ow."_

Harry leans closer and takes Louis' hand away from the swollen bruise, while Edward investigates the boy's knee. He can't help but remember the ghastly image of it being dislocated, a bone shoved out of place such that it jutted out of Louis' shaven skin. Now that region was just bruised and swelling, glistening from the ointment massaged into it for repair.

"You took quite a fall, petal." Harry tells his boy with his lips set in a sober, grim line. _"Bastard."_

Louis gasped, quite surprised. "Me?"

Harry chuckled as he shook his head, the humour a relief at last to their tension. He took both sides of Louis' face and kissed him hard on his pouted lips. "Not at all, petal. How could it ever be you?"

"Then who do you mean?" Louis presses, peering curiously up at both his stubborn husbands.

"What did we say about sleeping, baby?" Edward's voice is deep and gravely, made to behold authority. It drove shivers down Louis' arched spine.

Louis pouted more effectively but a yawn made its way out of him and the battle was lost. Once the tears were blinked away, he received gentle kisses on his lips from both husbands before curling around his biggest pillow. He gets interrupted halfway in by a knock on their door and the sheepish smile of a doctor. 

"I'm sorry I'm late, I was in the OR." The female medical professional made her way over to Louis, having to step past Edward who stood precariously at Louis' side. "How long have you been awake, Louis?"

"Six minutes." It's Harry who answers her instead. The edge to his tone withheld a sharp malice.

"Well-" She reads details off his charts but offer him consolation with a warm smile. "-your vitals are wonderful and you don't have a concussion. We set your knee in a hard plaster, it should take a few days to heal completely."

"Thank you." Louis touches the foreign bandage wrapped around his knee, an unshakeable weight. "It doesn't feel too great."

"Oh it won't at first." She unfortunately informs him. "Try not to scratch it or get it wet although we will remove it for a less strict option if you heal correctly. You're on very mild painkillers right now and I'm trying to get some glucose in you to boost those sugar levels."

"Can I eat solid food?" He enquires humbly. "I'm famished."

"Of course. You can order from our cafeteria. I'll send my nurse in with a menu for you." She slots his medical diagnosis back into its place and unclicks her pen. "Any questions for me, Louis?"

"Not right now." He nervously replies to her, chewing his upper lip until it split under the ministrations of his teeth. 

"If you do-" She pulls a littler beeper out of her coat pocket and leaves it on the table beside his bed. "-use this to call me or one of my nurses, okay? Now, you need to get some rest after you eat. Keep it light and drink all the water you need."

His doctor leaves and Louis sits upright in bed, a little drowsy but nowhere near _exhausted_. Edward sits on the edge of his bed and takes Louis' capable leg across his lap, kissing the the knee and inner thigh of his boy. Harry notices how his older brother cannot part with Louis, lest he lose the boy again.

Edward presses a kiss to Louis' bare skin with each word of his question. "What. Would. You. Like. To. Eat?"

Louis giggles and leans forward, draping his arms over Edward's shoulders to lock his arms around the man's neck. He hides his face in Edward's throat with a brilliant blush, nibbling on the man's earlobe. Edward's chest suffers a strangled groan and he encircles Louis' waist to drag him closer.

"Tacos." Louis answers, chin hooked over Edward's shoulder. "The spiciest taco you can find. Nachos too."

Edward chuckles audibly and smacks a firm kiss onto Louis' jugular, a damp residue left behind. "Anything for you, my sweet petal."

"In that case-" Louis cheekily bites Edward's pulse point. "-I want a banana milkshake."

Harry takes an opportunity to bend over so Louis doesn't have to stretch all that much. He kisses his petal on that pair of merciless soft lips, clutching his wallet tighter so his mind doesn't go numb with how sensational it is to kiss Louis. 

"Are you going?" Louis asks with an unreadable expression, both impassive and troubled.

"You need food, petal." Harry promises him when Louis grabs his wrist, not letting go. 

"Don't go." Louis insists, a saddened whine lacing his words. 

Instead, Harry pinches Louis' hip so the boy is distracted by a squirm and frees his wrist. "I'll come back, petal."

Harry checks to see that he is equipped with his phone and wallet, keys handed off to Edward. He winks when Louis rolls his eyes at him, leaving but not with his signature smirk. 

Louis pays attention to Edward that's between his legs and _very quiet_. He curls one leg around the man's hips from the side he sat on, the other laying limp on the hospital bed. Edward smiles to acknowledge that he can feel Louis' affections, but it's far too fleeting.

"Hey." Louis brings his face closer to Edward's, tilting his husband's gaze towards him. "What's going on in here?"

Edward never sat hunched and looked so defeated. He prided himself in his ego and dignity. Louis was deeply concerned that the man has retired these quirks.

"Daddy." He coaxes softly, hugging Edward's shoulders. "Is something bothering you?"

Edward sighs. "Many things bother me, petal. Our world is far from being perfect."

"I guess that's what makes it ours then, huh?" Louis lightly adds. He cups Edward's face in both hands of his, directing those powerful green orbs to him. "You can share _anything_ with me. In fact, we're married so you kind of _have to_."

That elicits a chuckle from his husband, followed by a searing kiss on his unprepared lips. Edward lifts his arm and uses it to draw Louis into his personal space. "I did get to marry you, didn't I? The most beautiful boy."

Louis' eyes shimmer with adoration and love when he kisses Edward's cheek, craning his neck upward. "The most beautiful boy wants to know why you're upset."

Edward's response is to exhale shakily and press his forehead to Louis' so that their lips hovered over one another's. He felt Louis' icy hand rest on his throat, thumb grazing his jugular. The power Louis wielded over him was unfathomable.

"Please tell me that you've forgiven me." Edward sounds like he's pleading, begging already to be pardoned of his greatest crime.

Louis knows that he has. Their obstacle was burdensome and taxing on their relationship but moreover, it is in the past. "Of course I have."

"I don't deserve it. I don't deserve you, petal." Edward draws in a long breath through his nose and squeezes Louis' hip. 

"It's forgotten now, Edward. We've moved past it." Louis urges. He hates going back to that already. "Is it still bothering you?"

"Yes." Edward is quick to respond, blazing molten green eyes connecting with Louis' defenceless sapphires. "It's destroying me."

"Why?" Louis presses, creases on his brow. 

He hears himself squeak to refrain from a shout and falls onto his back, forced by a larger strength. Two arms extend on either side of him and soon enough, Edward's troubled face is hovering above him. Louis holds onto his husband's biceps, lips parted when he feels Edward's weight shift between his legs. 

Edward looks _frustrated_. An unharnessed demon ran mad within him and controlled his actions, bleeding scratchings left on the inside of his skull. Edward didn't know the ceiling from the floor or his own name but he knows that there's a person beneath him. A whole other, extraordinary boy that he's done wrong.

"I hurt you, my baby." Edward was careful in balancing his weight so none of it rested on Louis. He fisted the sides of Louis' pillow and brought his face down to nuzzle his soul mate. "You're my petal and I never intended to hurt you. I love you so much, I could never face this world without you."

"Oh _Edward_." Louis embraced his other half enthusiastically and screwed his eyes shut, a bundle of feelings bringing tears to their corners. "I forgive you. You're my Daddy and _I love you_."

Edward's been denying himself the recovery after making amends and now will be no different. He had done an atrocious thing to the boy he held higher than the world, only to break that boy's heart. Louis ran his fingers through the man's hair and comforted him with those small, favourably loving strokes. 

"Despite my asking-" Edward murmured with insecurity into Louis' neck, mouthing at the damp skin. "-I want you to never forgive what I did. I need to work for it, baby."

"No, Daddy." Louis shook his head fervently and wrapped himself around Edward. "I just want you to be here for me. What's done is done."

"Alright, petal." Edward framed Louis' face and kissed him hard, deeply. "I love you so much."

"I love you." Louis knew how Edward needed his affection so he dipped into the man's space and drew their bodies closer. 

His uninjured leg was able to wrap around Edward's; his arms snaked under and around the man's armpits to rest on his shoulderblades. Edward didn't need provocation to cover them with the misconstrued blankets. A heavier weight rested between Louis' thighs, not harming the healing limb.

"Baby boy." Edward embraced Louis' petite waist and set himself down chest to chest. "I want to make love to you."

Louis whimpered and tilted his head to the side, granting further access of his throat to Edward. "We can't, Daddy."

That didn't stop Edward from nudging Louis' hospital gown further up inch by inch, thumbing over his husband's soft hairless skin. It gave the boy goosebumps where they touched. 

"I know." Edward closes his eyes where his face is tucked into Louis' neck, arms fitted under the boy's pillow now. "Doesn't stop a man from wishing."

Giggling, Louis drew odd patterns on Edward's back. He's not ready to ask what happened after his world went black under Dexter's roof. The real world of drama, sex and blood isn't what he wants to return to just yet. Its irony is not lost on him.

"When I take you home with us-" Edward nipped at Louis' jaw. "-I'm going to ask the doctor if I can fuck you hard enough."

Louis blushed deeply and smiled shyly when Edward kept nudging him for attention. Lips are pressed to his cheek and he can feel Edward's dimple when he brushes the man's cheek. Edward hummed and his chest transferred vibrations into Louis' ribcage.

"Don't you dare." Louis chastises his crude statement. 

Edward parts his lips and suckle light marks into Louis' throat. "How are you feeling, baby? Is your leg still hurting?"

"A little." Louis whispers with a sniffle. "I'm fine though."

"I wish I could take it from you." Edward replies with his lips against Louis' cheek. "I'd leave you with just the best feelings."

  
* * * * *  


_"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone."_ Louis sang in a soft voice while Harry watched him with an amused smirk.

His first day at the hospital isn't over yet and Louis' physiotherapist made an appointment to see him. Louis was advised to exercise his knee here before being discharged from the hospital and was how making use of the gymnasium. His knee wasn't in critical condition and he could walk with a small limp, cycle with little falter. 

_"You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess."_ He hummed the song whilst stretching. "Stop smirking at each other."

Edward loyally dropped his smug amusement while Harry promptly shoved off the wall they leaned against. He sauntered over to where their petal was on a brand new yoga mat - the product of Louis' pouting at Edward - that was bright orange. In jeans and heavy rings, Harry dropped into a seated position beside the boy.

"We are buying every Taylor Swift CD there is when we go home." Louis crossed one leg and cracked his knuckles. 

Harry chuckled and unlocked his phone to place an order on Amazon. "You need to be busy with your doctor's orders, petal."

Louis blew his fringe out of his eyes. He had these big, blue innocent eyes when he looked up at Harry. "I need help, Daddy."

"Yeah?" Harry's left dimple made an appearance and Louis giggled. "Is that your way of asking, baby?"

All Louis did was grin and twenty minutes later it was just Edward who got to be smug, standing motionless in the corner watching them. Harry changed into sweatpants and a clingy vest that might as well have been another layer of taut, tanned skin. He ditched his shoes in favour of aiding Louis with just black socks.

They're alone in the hospital gym on the lowest floor. The air was clean and crisp from the thermostat working at optimum levels. Louis tried making excuses but Harry is quite the personal trainer. He makes Louis do as instructed by their physiotherapist or the boy gets a light swat on his bum.

"You can't spank me, I'm injured." Louis challenged Harry whenever he'd get those punishments. 

Harry merely carried him to the stationary bicycles and positioned the boy on its seat. "You are also exceptionally mischievous. Now move those lovely legs of yours."

Louis behaved like a champ after that and did everything Harry asked but not without batting his eyelashes or trying to kiss the man. Harry didn't like to give in when he was trying to accomplish such an important goal, but his weakness for Louis was where he lost.

"Kiss me." Louis could stand without wavering and tugged Harry down to his level. "Please."

Harry pecked his boy's forehead and freed himself before lacing their fingers together. "You'll get a kiss when you finish this regimen."

After cycling for just under an hour at a leisurely pace, Harry monitored Louis' pace on a treadmill. He literally swept the boy off the machine when Louis almost fell immediately, a clear indication that his knee wasn't ready for that task. 

Next he conducted Louis' stretches on the neglected yoga mat. It was growing dark outside but the few windows weren't enough to remind them. Louis hated the fact that he was sweating and the stretch of his muscles was causing the pain in his knee. He moaned and groaned about it but got nowhere. 

"Can you bench press me?" He abruptly asked Harry when they're done with the stretches and he is trying not to think about how tender his knee has become. 

Harry had Louis' legs across his lap and noted the swelling on his boy's knee, purple bruises just starting to fade. "I can't say that I've tried, petal."

Louis' eyes lit up. "Can you?"

"Absolutely not." His husband scoffed and massaged his thigh a little to relieve some of the tension. "You need to shower and-"

"Please, Daddy?" Louis unveiled his pouty lips and pleading crystalline eyes, pulling on Harry's arm. 

Harry calmly pressed a kiss to the boy's forehead. "Maybe some other time, angel."

Louis held onto him and made sure those plump, bubblegum lips find his mouth. "No, now."

"Excuse me?" Harry squeezed Louis' hips so they hurt a bit more than anywhere else and pinched the boy's behind. "I didn't hear any of the words I should have, baby."

Tilting his head forward, Louis apologetically kissed Harry's shoulder. "Please now, Daddy?"

"Thank you." Harry holds Louis' wrist. "But no, angel. I'm not taking the risk of hurting you."

"Maybe-" Louis traced a circle around the skull tattoo on Harry's bulging bicep. "-you could do those push-up's with me underneath you."

Harry makes an adorable frown of confusion before he's gently pushing Louis onto his back and crawling on top of him. Louis is giggling in his perfect, musical way that Harry wants to bottle up and listen to forever. He's situated hovering over his boy now, palms digging into Louis' neon yoga mat. 

"I don't see how this is exercise for you." Harry points out with a quirked eyebrow. 

"It's not meant to be." Louis combs his fingers through Harry's hair and measures its length. "Ever thought about cutting this mane of yours?"

Harry's laughter is mute but visible. "If you are calling my hair a mane, that makes me a horse and I assume it's meant to be a compliment."

Louis gasps in scandal and harmlessly bats Harry's torso. " _No_. How crude, Daddy."

After Harry's amusement trails off into a lilt that arches his tongue when he speaks, tiny breaks of laughter in between words, he speaks. "No, petal. I haven't thought about cutting my hair."

"Maybe you should." Louis suggests with a tiny shrug, gripping fistfuls of Harry's chocolate locks. "I could do it. Dye it at the same time too."

"Do you really want me to cut my hair, petal?"

Louis hums without giving a distinguishable answer. He imagines Harry with shorter length hair that would eventually grow back. The sight could either be mouthwatering or depressing at the loss of hair. It's a gamble he's willing to take.

  
* * * * *  


"Are you ready?" Louis asked Harry from the man's lap. 

He had a pair of scissors and was positioned on his husband's lap in his hospital room bathroom. Be the decision an impulsive one, Harry was ready to sacrifice his hair if it gave Louis some form of distraction. Edward had volunteered to buy the hair dye from a drug store and stood mixing it while he mocked his victim of a brother.

"Do you think this is a good idea, Harry?" Edward asked his sibling, setting the bowl of readied hair dye down on the counter.

"Petal could shave me bald-" Harry was allowed to take advantage of the boy in his lap and found a reason to cup his bottom with both possessive hands. "-and I wouldn't get mad."

"Thanks, Daddy." Louis pecked Harry's cheek for saying that. "Now sit still."

Harry makes a face before obeying. Louis unties the bun he has done up and leans forward, all soft in Edward's T-shirt and freshly showered, against Harry to deal with the lengths. He swings his one able leg back and forth whilst snipping away, as they're both draped over Harry's hips to hang loosely off the ground on this tall stool.

Louis can see the patches and traces of white hidden in the deeper portions of Harry's hair. He ignores them to cut the man's hair evenly, doing an excellent job of taking his time. Already washed and wet, Louis can effortlessly decide a style with mental images.

"I fear that you'll be giving me the worst possible cut, petal." Harry remarks when Louis hasn't said anything in twelve minutes.

"Maybe the second worst." Louis giggles when he's pinched through his sweatpants. 

Hair fell to the floor and Louis dusted Harry's bare shoulders off. He brought some hair to the front and snipped most of it off, combing it back to rejoin the rest. Harry's curls were undeniable this way even when his hair is heavy from water droplets. Louis studies his accomplishment and mourns a little at how much hair is gone.

Harry's hair was a simple short length now, easily styled into a quiff. His curls weren't as vibrant as if he were a teenager but they stood out anyway. 

"I like it." He announces without giving Louis a chance to look. "You look harmless now."

Edward is the one to laugh behind his fist and Harry couldn't care less. His petal washed his hair with plain water before putting the dye in, using a little brush to make sure every strand was covered. When all was done, he kissed Harry's unsuspecting lips.

"All done." Instead of moving away, he wiggled closer and wrapped his arms around Harry's neck. "You look like a frat boy."

"What?" Harry was evidently shocked to hear this comparison, a little hurt even. 

"No he doesn't, petal." Edward tides his brother over with honesty. "You look satisfactory, Harry."

Harry was obviously panicking but his concern was ignored in favour of Louis' perceivable giggles. " _Satisfactory?_ What the fuck?"

  
* * * * *  


"Daddy?" Louis was terrified of going to sleep in a hospital without medication to help him.

He was curled up on his tall bed with Edward around him, chest to back. The man kissed his damp nape to indicate that he was always ready to listen to his petal. Harry's fallen asleep already using three chairs and a duffel bag for a pillow, snoring softly into his arm while Louis held his hand suspended between them.

"Yes, baby boy?" Edward made sure Louis was tucked in under the three hospital blankets and his heavy coat. "I'm listening."

Edward was warm and a firm security to have against him. Louis knew Edward's touch like he knew inside of his mind, but the unfamiliar beeping of monitors and squeak of shoes outside. The hallway was a private wing and the lights had been switched off, their door shut. It felt like there was certainly life hovering about close to them but not perceivable with the naked eye. 

Life and death existed in this hospital, in any one in fact. The reality that he was in a dark and unsuitable environment turned Louis' insides out. His gut twisted painfully and he squeezed his eyes shut, pulling Edward's arm over him to protect him.

"I want to go home." He admits in a cracking voice. He longs for his own bed with a hundred blankets and one giant pillow they all shared. 

Edward held Louis' hand and kissed the boy's temple. "I will get you there, petal. So soon, baby."

Louis sniffled and tried taking in Edward's presence around him, embracing him, rather than the fears surrounding those arms. "Can I see my father before we go home? I miss him."

"Anything you desire, you will have." Edward inhaled deeply and stretched himself out behind Louis. "Although I remember forbidding you from seeing your family."

"Yeah." Louis played with Edward's long, agile fingers. "You were silly back then. I love you."

"I adore you as well, petal." Edward encouraged Louis to sleep by rubbing his lower back with two fingers working precisely on his sore muscles. "Now close those pretty blues of yours and get some sleep."

  
* * * * *  


Edward woke up to a lapful of Louis.

It was a _pleasant_ surprise. His boy was bundled up so his arms were immobilised under two tortilla layers of blankets. Louis was wide awake and chatting quietly to Harry from under Edward's chin, two small and cold feet tucked in under the man's shins.

He yawns sleepily and let's his head roll to the side, feeling still exhausted after seven hours of slumber. Louis goes with him of course and it was a perfect sensation to have lying on his chest. His arms sliver into the dip in Louis' back, tiny shivers driven up the boy's back as he slips in and out of sleep.

"I think-" Harry ruffles and upsets his hair with his crooked fingers. "-I should thank you for this cut, petal."

Louis beamed like brilliant sunshine at his husband and rubbed his sleepy eyes. Harry's hair was soft to the touch with this new short length. It curled behind his ear and at his nape, deep dark locks that's both thick and thin at the same time. It suited him well but Louis did miss those long ringlets he could twirl around his finger.

"Well you're welcome." Louis stretched his bandaged leg out between both of Edward's. He gets a kiss on his forehead from Edward. "I don't think we'll do it again though."

"And why would that be?" Harry dragged his chair closer and hooked his chin onto Edward's clothed thigh, nuzzling Louis' supple tummy. 

"Because-" Louis reached down to brush through some of the silky curls. "-I miss my long haired Daddy already."

It takes an hour for Edward to discover that he cannot possibly fall asleep again, and be roused by Louis' persistent prodding to his collarbone. Lips were at his ear, teeth latched onto his earlobe as Louis' honey-like voice whispered enticing words.

"Wake up, Daddy." He slid his proportionalised palm up to Edward's cheek, framing the man's artful jaw. "I want breakfast."

Edward frowned a little in his sleep from this absurd disturbance and Louis peppered kisses all over those creases. "Where's 'arry, mhm?"

"He went somewhere." Louis dragged his finger down Edward's throat to his clavicle and paused at his heaving chest. "Daddy, I want to do something."

Edward hummed with his eyes still closed and hugged Louis securely. "What's that, baby?"

A hand, delicate and uncalloused, touched his crotch and Edward was _definitely_ awake now. His eyes were open, his back upright all in a fraction of a second. He stopped Louis from going further by grabbing the boy's wrists and distracting them, molten green discerning hope in ocean blue.

"What are you doing, petal?" He asks, eyes blazing like someone ignited a fire behind green film.

Louis pouted and tried to kiss his husband. He succeeded for a moment when he felt Edward's groan against his lips but lost the battle to straddle the man. "I want to, Daddy."

"No." Edward spoke gruffly, voice still scratchy. He kissed Louis to tide him over but there was a bulge in his pants that Louis wanted to concentrate on.

"Why not?" Louis challenged a little sassily, nudging Edward back with his forehead and forcing himself astride the man's thighs. He breathed his words rather than spoke them. "Please, Daddy. Give me you."

Edward could only groan from the depths of his chest, daggers lodged in his heart. They were still alone in this wing for an hour before the nurses returned so their privacy was guaranteed. Louis tempted him like nothing else.

"We can't, baby." He shook his head and watched Louis' face fall. "I can't hurt you another bit."

"But I want to." Louis weakly insisted, an angelic presence on a demon's lap. "Do you not want me anymore? Is it because of my leg? Daddy, I-"

"Hush, petal. That's not it at all." Edward cupped his boy's cheeks and bumped their noses together. He kissed Louis' puckered lips. "I want you every hour of every day and I'll continue to do so, but I must protect you first."

"Protect me from what?" Louis' words were a little muffled. "Your c*ck?"

 _"No."_ Edward chuckled and his early morning laughter was magical, echoing off the walls of their room. "You can have my c*ck all you want when we're back home and _you're healed._ "

Louis' shoulders hunched in deflation and he freed his arms to wrap around Edward's neck. He liberated his bandaged leg from under the covers to lay across the man's lap. "I'm holding you to that."

"I hope you do." Edward mumbles whilst kneading Louis' thigh, hand slipping higher than necessary. "Baby, do you know where you are?"

"Uh-" Louis hesitates. He looks around the room but he can't recall any familiarity. "A hospital?"

"Yes." Edward cautiously replies, regarding Louis' confusion with trepidation. "Do me a favour, angel. Fetch your medical file from the slot at the end of the bed."

With immense reluctance, Louis looked at where his objective was before reaching over. He hadn't moved much because Edward held his hips fast, large palms fanned out over his waist. After clasping the manila folder, Louis recoils into Edward's arms and flips open the front page. Photographs and scans crowd the first page but after that comes the written report, the first line reading:

_Middleston General Hospital._

**_[A/N: *neutral cough* I censor c*ck bc I post on AO3 and Wattpad, the latter of which doesn't publish the word. - S xx]_ **


	14. XII.

**_[A/N: Grrrr. That's dinosaur for I love you. - S xx]_ **

Head thrown back and jaw slackened, Louis couldn't avoid the attention drawn to him because of his uncensored noises. He gripped Edward's shoulders with sharp nails and raked them viciously down the man's torso so angry red warts were left in its path. 

The air he breathed was thick and damp like his skin with a sheen of sweat. He was panting into Edward's mouth and his thighs quivered violently, flushed from his forehead to his belly. Edward's hands tightened on Louis' bottom until his handprints were bruised into the lovely flesh.

Louis felt _used_ and it was glorious. He'd asked for it and not once has he regretted it since. His abdomen clenched when Edward withdrew from his shuddering body, and he choked audibly when the man slammed back into him. Each thrust was extraordinary and mildly abusive as Edward's c*ck shoved through Louis' clenching walls to pummel into his prostate.

The wall to his back was a direct contrast to his burning, prickly skin. Louis gasped brokenly as he tried pulling his husband closer between his legs. Edward denied him that by biting down harshly on Louis' pulse such that his boy was subdued and whimpering from pain. When Louis settled from forced action, Edward picked up his pace.

His hard hips magnetised to Louis' in quick, violent snaps. He had his petite lover _shaking_ with pleasure but Louis was locking his ankles behind his back and Edward was lost. 

"You asked for this." Edward growled into Louis' ear before biting down on the boy's throat. "You will _take it_ , petal."

It took merely a small change in his mood for Louis to be drawn towards this experience. He was alone with Edward and begged for his insignificant injury to be ignored. His husband was eager to oblige and pinned Louis to the wall instantly with a type of dark lust in his eyes that Louis rarely witnessed.

There was something special about this escapade of theirs as Louis had asked to be treated differently to when they engaged in amorous activities. He had used all the words he could to be transparent about his need to be used, called their slut and not fucked the way the brothers would their petal. 

Louis' thighs were yanked up higher on Edward's hips and his vision turned blank for a heartbeat when Edward began massaging the taut flesh between thigh and pelvis. His whole body jerked and he whined in a high pitch when Edward folded him in half, hooking his boy's knees over his crooked elbows. His palms slapped onto the wall so that he completely immobilised Louis, before plowing into the boy animalistically.

Edward drew in a sharp breath and moved at a more gruelling pace, harder and impossibly deeper. He had the best ass around his c*ck and he was a fool for its affection. Louis was whimpering into his ear and had bruises all over in a variety of colours from Edward's mistreatment.

"Da- Daddy!" Louis' arms were crushed against his chest and his climax was barreling towards him, a deep pit in his abdomen knotting itself with pleasure. 

"Shut up." Edward's hand clamped over Louis' mouth, cutting off his air and eliciting all the pleasure he could from grinding so sinfully into Louis. "Thought you weren't my baby now."

Louis doesn't regret his decision because being violated so vagrantly was _exquisite_ , but after years of being caressed this swap is quite drastic. He mewls brokenly and let's his arms fall to claw blindly at the wall, Edward determined to become uncaring. 

"N-Not your- _Yes! D-Daddy, right there!_ " Louis screeched when Edward's hips knocked into his and stilled at last, but started protesting when his husband began to pull out. 

His blue, bloodshot eyes were desperate and feverish. Louis tightened his legs beside the pain in them to keep Edward inside him, clenching to milk the man of his nearing orgasm.

"Stop." Edward's voice was strangled and his palm landed on Louis' thigh in a smack that stung them both. The green of his eyes have turned to molten rock in a fit of lustful rage. 

Louis didn't stop. He threw his head back against the wall, neck unmarked and skin unloved. When he'd asked to be treated as a creature to merely slate lust, be their whore, it implied that he would have no kisses or affection outside of being fucked stupid. He missed it. His skin throbbed for attention and his insides ached to be loved a bit more physically.

"Pl-Please." Louis swallows and he chokes on the air coming up from his lungs, nails digging into his own palms. "Come inside me."

"Can't do that." Edward grumbled miserably as he struggled to withhold his imminent release. "That's only for my petal."

He was prompting Louis to say his safeword. Louis didn't give in. " _Want it._ Want your come, Daddy."

Edward held himself up by digging his palms into the wall on either side of Louis. He grunted in a pained manner and Louis' sensitised body shuddered from the shift inside him. Their middles were slick with Louis' double release and their skin shone with sweat.

"Not your Daddy." Even as he stated it, Edward was conflicted. He enjoyed the authority thoroughly and Louis against him so pliant and willing. It was a thrill. "That is only for my petal, he's my slut."

Louis mumbled an unintelligable complaint and dug his nails into Edward's shoulderblades. "I-I'm your slut."

"No, you aren't." Edward drawled into his ear and extricated his length from Louis' tight confines in one motion. He pinned the boy with harsh force to the wall when Louis tried moving. Blazing green scalded Louis' floating blue. "You have to call me Master if you're going to be my whore."

At that, Louis' insides quivered and he gasped in a moment of weakness. The domineering word was enough to make him lose himself. "M-Master?"

"Yes." Edward's hands slipped underneath Louis' thighs to hoist him higher. "Yes, that's it."

Louis gained confidence and he recited it more powerfully, his ammunition to wield. "Master, please. Let me have you."

Edward was undoubtedly smug about this, Louis' willingness to submit so wholly. He held the boy up before letting his feet touch the ground, stepping back so he could secretly admire the curves and plumpness of Louis' body. He couldn't tell Louis of the praises going through his mind, not without risking the facade they've put up so eloquently.

Edward captured Louis' chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcefully yanking his lover forward so their eyes met and Louis was paralysed by his strength. "Everything you take you'll have to _earn_."

Louis' hand encircled Edward's wrist as he steadied himself. He gulped thickly and used the leverage to stabilise his wobbly knees, a burn in his thighs and emptiness in his lowest regions. Maybe they can do this at another time when he isn't so _frustrated and helpless_.

Edward sees it coming, the mention of Louis' ridiculous safeword, and he's smirking like the smug bastard Louis labelled him as. He even brings his swollen and bitten lips closer to Louis', poised for the moment he gets to kiss his petal again.

"Wait." Louis' nose became scrunched up in thought. "I forgot which fruit it was."

His husband was at his wit's end with this boy and swept him up off the ground, laying him on his back on his hospital bed. Edward's mouth connected with Louis' a deep and lazy kiss that involved too much tongue and clanking teeth, while he parted Louis' thighs and re-entered him. Those gorgeous legs closed around him while Edward licked into Louis' mouth, thrusting once deeply, hard enough, and letting go of all his inhibitions. 

Louis' entire petite form arched beautifully and Edward dragged his wet lips down the boy's front, between his pectorals and onto each pink nipple. He groaned and kneaded Louis' soft hips, hypnotised by their touch. His sharp molars latched onto Louis' skin, making up for the lack of love bites.

Edward clung to his lovely husband while he brought their faces together. "I must say, petal, you will never stop surprising me."

Louis' eyes were so mellow, wrecked like the rest of him. He squirmed and reached down to pull Edward's softening length out of him. "Hmm. That's my job."

With an expert smirk and two disarming dimples, Edward turned to nuzzle Louis' neck. "Leaking?"

"Of course I'm leaking." Louis rolled his eyes, the answer was too obvious.

Edward spanked Louis' bottom not once but twice to punish him for the sass. "Guard that sharp tongue of yours, petal."

Settling into his own skin once more, Louis closed his eyes and buried his fingers in Edward's silvery locks. He angled his face into the man's personal space, his forehead against his husband's temple. Their bodies were sewn effortlessly together and Louis tugged once to indicate that Edward must haul himself up onto the bed. 

It was done and soon he had a man twice his size between his quivering thighs, a face hidden in the crook of his neck. He was certain the hospital bed sheets were ruined like his hospital gown but those worries were the least prioritised. 

"You had a purpose for that, baby." Edward pulled his pants up and buckled his belt, allowing Louis to feel very much sated and scandalous. "Are you better now?"

Louis used Edward's bicep as a pillow and hardly smiled when a blanket was wrapped around him. "What are we doing in Middleston, Edward?"

With a sigh, Edward glanced at the door before he pulled Louis into his arms for no reason other than their heartbeats have been out of synchrony for too long. "You'll have to ask my brother that, baby."

"You came all the way here not knowing why?" Louis' tone was accusatory and greatly unhappy. 

"No." Edward kissed the top of Louis' head. "Harry asked that I let him tell you."

"Is someone dead?" Louis asked, holding his breath and listening to the blood pump aggressively through his temples.

"No."

He can exhale in substantial relief after hearing that, the unforgiving and gory images of what he saw last outside this hospital creeping back into his mind. "Okay. Are we alone?"

"I think so, petal." Edward cleared his throat and looked around their silent wing through the windows. "I haven't seen a- _Woah_ , petal. What are you doing?"

Louis had somehow gotten himself up on his knees without much wavering or strain on his bandage. He ignored Edward's enquiry and the feverish hands grasping desperately at his waist, slinging a leg over his husband's hips. Edward tried to sit up and Louis pushed him back down with all his strength, feeding the dazzle behind Edward's unsmotherable grin.

"Quit looking at me like that." Louis antagonised his highly amused spouse, sitting astride him. "It's weird, Daddy."

Edward clasps Louis' hips securely to maintain his boy's balance. He gets his grip removed when Louis leans forward all the way, spreading himself out. The boy tucked himself in under Edward's chin with repetitive nudges and crooking his knee over the man's thigh until he was comfortable. 

"Such a fiesty little thing you are, petal." Edward murmured in Louis' ear and kissed his forehead. 

"I'm your favourite person." Louis taps Edward's chest with his forefinger. He looked up expectantly and Edward knew there was only one answer. "Aren't I?"

"My _absolute_ favourite, petal." Edward tightens his arms around Louis' slim waist and kisses him deeply, long and languid. 

Louis reached up with both hands to thumb over Edward's earlobes absentmindedly, bringing their faces closer so their noses bumped together. He giggled when Edward growled against his lips and squeezed his bottom, cupping him in two firm handfuls.

"I love you." Edward confesses from the depths of his heart, the electric green of his eyes conveying such honesty. Edward stole Louis' breath and made his chest flutter whenever such a heartfelt moment struck him. "Sometimes, I fear that word isn't good enough to describe how I feel about you."

Louis can only pull himself near, their foreheads pressed together, and suck in a shaky breath. He smiles minutely before his lips crash into Edward's and they're kissing again, slow and full of memorabilia. There's a special feeling he had born in the center of his chest, angled to the left. It took over his heart and extinguished all the love he ever had for others. They were the masters of his universe, now and forever. 

Thinking of all the times he had the opportunity to leave them, gain freedom that he _thought_ he'd need, made him sick. He existed only with them as they did only with him. 

"I love you." Louis reciprocates graciously, mumbling it against Edward's lips. "There aren't enough words for me to say it and do justice to what this feels like."

Edward's teeth latch onto Louis' lower lip for a breath. He's mentally stronger and had flawless stamina in everything, a tough exterior that could not be burned. All this and the man was still on his knees for Louis, the boy he _worships_ from head to toe.

Louis squeaks out of shock and embarrasment when Edward suddenly spanks his bum. 

"Back to business then." His notorious husband clears the air of emotion with his suave resolution. 

"That was mean." Louis counteracts by walking his fingers up Edward's bare torso, the resonating sting of a reddening handprint on his bottom making his cheeks burn. 

"I beg to differ." Edward meets Louis' eye and he is powerless, a slave to such intrinsic beauty. "I still love you."

Louis bit his lip and resigned any argument he had in favour of guarding his chastity with a thin blanket. "Daddy."

"Petal." Edward replies, the corner of his mouth turned up. "I suggest you get some sleep before my brother comes back with your food."

"Why?" Louis asked because he could, with a yawn and flex of his fingers. 

Edward let Louis get as comfortable as he wanted, lying atop him like a purring kitten. He trailed his knuckles up and down Louis' curved spine, stopping at the base to travel from hip to hip. "I intend you allow him time with you as well. Don't you think that's fair too?"

  
* * * * *  


"Daddy?" Louis is serving as the most comfortable pillow for Harry. He is lying on a bed with fresh sheets after a thorough shower and had on nothing but the bare essentials.

"Hmm?" Harry was preoccupied with nuzzling his face into Louis' tummy where his shimmering belly ring was, to look up. "Yes, baby?"

Louis wiggled until he could see all of Harry's attentive expression. They had to whisper while Edward slept awkwardly on a couch that's smaller than he. "Take me for a walk."

Harry's brow became furrowed in a sturdy frown that marred the perfect features of his visage. The beauty in this man was more belonging to the devil than an angel. "Outside?"

"Yes." Louis hadn't gotten a chance to talk about why they're in _Middleston_ with Edward watching him like a hawk. "Please, Daddy?"

"Alright." Harry _always_ resigned his afirmation whenever Louis spoke his petname. "Get dressed in something warm, petal."

Obedient because he intended to elicit as much information as he could from his unsuspecting husband, Louis chose the thickest clothing he had in a massive suitcase. He had one of Edward's sweaters with a tiny hole under the arm and his own yoga pants that hugged his thighs more than he appreciated. Nonetheless, Harry was quick to text Edward so his brother didn't worry if he awoke, and grab a jacket.

Louis hasn't been to this part of the Middleston General Hospital before. He can recall almost any other wing but walking down the brightly illuminated hallways with Harry now was a little spooky. There was nobody else but them probably because their wing was private and visited by no one unnecessary.

"Petal." Harry warned him when Louis wandered too far ahead, and grasped Louis' hand in his firmly. "Why did you want to go on a walk?"

The endless white, disturbing walls came to a halt and opened up into an expansive intersection. A nurses' station with only one nurse behind the counter was to their left and numerous couches to their right. Harry approached the former to fill in something briefly and sign before leading Louis towards the bank of elevators.

"Needed to use my legs, I guess." Louis was distracted. He looked at everything he could in one glance and hardly paid Harry any mind, trying to uncover the reason for why he's back in this gloomy town.

Harry tugged on his arm and Louis fell towards his chest, the elevator doors closing over the exact spot where he stood. "Be careful now, petal."

"Sorry." Louis straightened up and looked at the level number. Thirty-two. "We're so high up."

Something caused the edge of Harry's mouth to twitch but flatten into the grim mood radiating from the man. "Petal, I know why you wanted this walk and I think I should just give you the answer you want."

Louis looks up incredulously at his husband but can't stop the man from slamming his finger into a new button on the panel. It aimed to take them below the ground level and the M it was labelled with could stand for only one thing.

"Harry-" 

"Hush." He was silenced with a dark look present in Harry's eyes that's smothering the harmless twinkle Louis put there. The demons he was born with could drown any amount of humility he later developed.

Louis bit the inside of his cheek and felt his hand burn where it was joined to Harry's. He cradled the scorching sensation and enclosed the back of Harry's palm with his other hand, entirely grounding himself to one man. Harry didn't reject him like the tall, dark stranger that lurked within him usually did. He pulled Louis closer and kissed the boy's forehead.

The elevator doors opened and Louis only read the writing on the frosted double glass doors before protesting. "No."

He didn't allow himself to be dragged out of the elevator willingly or by force. His feet stay rooted to the ground, the corners of his vision going pitch black as they pricked with imminent fear and tears. There was no way he would be going beyong those doors to whatever horrendous reality it held for him.

"Petal-"

"No!" Louis crowed, trying in vain to free himself of Harry's restricting arms. "Harry, no. I'm not going in there."

Harry had Louis prisoner around his shoulders, keeping the boy immobilisied and captive. "You don't want your answers?"

Something was digging into his back and it was terribly sharp, making Louis arch away from it so as to avoid the nips its tip got to his skin. Blood stained his borrowed sweater and his skin was being sliced by a blade's edge. Each escape was rendered useless by Harry whispering in his ear a few indecipherable words and yanking him back, until his strength waned and the knife was sheathed all the way through him.

  
* * * * *  


Louis awoke with a jolt that sent the weight above him into a fit. He was panting like he's run a marathon and sweat stained the front of his hospital gown, blood pumping audibly in his skull. His nightmare was terrifying enough to have his fists clenched in the innumerable amount of sheets covering him.

There was one particular burden nailing him to the mattress and his damp pillow that woke up with him, groggy and slurring in his words. Louis saw Harry lift his head from the cradle of his tummy and scrambled to get away, too broken in breath and thought to process reality from dream.

"Petal?" Harry spoke confusedly from below him, sitting up with worry etched in his frown. 

For a moment, Louis let himself drown in his own paranoia. He struggled to control his breath and swallowed each time to a dry callousness in his throat. Hugging his knees to his chest, Louis tried to settle the severe dizziness rocking his core. It was unthinkable, the memory of his nightmare that's beginning to ebb into fantasy. 

Edward was there too all of a sudden. He sat on the edge of Louis' bed and braced an arm around the boy, reeling him in for an embrace. "It's alright, baby. It was just a nightmare."

Louis had his heart beating at a less animalistic pace and yet his eyes were still so alarmed, his skin prickling with something numb dusted over it. He inhaled Edward's scent, his presence was real and something Louis could cling to. His husband hauled Louis onto his lap where he was protected from even the monsters in his head. 

"Hey, petal." Harry has brought himself closer to not be excluded and brushes Louis' cheek with his knuckle. "Hey, baby boy."

Louis welcomed him as well after he's discerned that it is safe, that the haunting horror of Harry _stabbing him in the back_ , was merely a conjuration of his internal fever. He gingerly opened himself up to the other Styles twin, regarded with precious caution when he wrapped his arms around the man.

"Tell us what it was about, angel." Harry encouraged softly, supporting the back of Louis' head where it rested on his shoulder and felt the fingers in his shirt tighten.

"No." Louis managed to say without a stutter. He screwed his eyes shut and sniffled. "Don't make me."

"We won't." Edward rubbed Louis' back where he knew became particularly sore for the boy often. "Not when you're so upset, petal."

"Never." Louis said as seriously as his derailed train of thought would allow. 

"Okay." Harry spoke before Edward did, giving his brother a glare to sympathise with Louis. "That's fine, petal."

Edward had Louis' legs across his lap and decided to occupy himself by inspecting the boy's bandage. It's been three days and the gauze has been reduced to a basic wrap sans any brace. Louis could walk without limping but he often chose not to because his leg would swell up right after. 

"Harry?" Louis whispered in his husband's ear whilst twirling the majorly shortened locks of hair at his nape.

"Yes, baby?" Harry kissed Louis' neck to indicate that he is always listening.

Louis had his eyes closed and he could vividly picture facing the morgue of the hospital, his own beloved burying a blade to the hilt in his body. He shivered sbruptly from the memory and clung more desperately to Harry. "I love you."

Harry didn't hesitate for a beat to say it back. He gave Louis a kiss on his temple and whispered the words to the boy's skin. "I love you, baby. You're my baby, yeah? I'm right here for you always, petal."

  
* * * * *  


"Harry Styles." Louis had his hands on his hips and was very intimidating, or at least trying to be. "You _promised_."

The man himself peered past his soul-mate into the near Olympic sized swimming pool hidden in the hospital's physiotherapy ward. He had no excitement regarding getting into that pool and it amused him because usually it was Edward that resisted. 

"I know, petal." Harry sat forward in his chair and set his chin on Louis' tummy, looking up at his boy. "Edward's going in with you now."

"Only because you broke your promise." Louis pointed out, jabbing Harry's tattoed bicep. 

Edward returns from the nurses' station that allowed him to book personal time in the hospital gym. He was in shorts that stopped at his knee and a T-shirt that supported Iron Maiden. Louis pouted at Harry when he still got no change of pace from the man, batting invasive hands away when they tried to keep him from walking away.

"You know-" Harry captured Louis' wrists. "-watching you walk away is just as enticing as when you're coming toward me."

Louis rolled his eyes and freed himself, although there was no denying he had a light red tainting his cheeks. He was helped out of his sweatpants and into the sinfully short pants he'd chosen from a catalogue. The fabric with navy blue and hugged his pert bottom enough for it to be something Godless in Edward's eyes. 

It exposed enough of his boy's thighs and waist to be what caused Harry's sudden attention. He sat up in his chair with his legs parted on either side of it, elbows resting on his knees. Claiming every right he had over Louis, Harry watched his ethereal husband with a stalking gaze that followed the boy's every movement. Louis' back was to him but that didn't deterr him, only made him sink his teeth into his bottom lip and outline the contours of Louis' curves.

"I seem to recall strictly forbidding the purchase of anything higher than your knees." Edward quirks an eyebrow sceptically at Louis' choice of bottoms. He isn't _unhappy_ about Louis' shorts but the chance of anyone other than them seeing him is also a real threat. 

Louis blushed deeply and bright red but didn't make an effort to change. "Maybe."

With a snort of judgement, Edward pats Louis' hip to turn him around which is when the boy meets Harry's eye. The look he's met with is so blindingly lustful that Louis feels as if he's utterly naked, every inch of porcelain skin exposed to his husband's scorching hunger. He diverts his gaze when Harry's eyes rake over his body in a salacious once-over.

"I'll have to carry you for a bit, won't I?" Edward hadn't seen his brother's uncontrollably heated stare and therefore his tone hadn't changed to regard it.

Louis managed to pry his timid vision away from Harry to watch his toes curl on the ground. "Okay."

Harry was a little ignored when he made no effort to come forth at first. He sat on his plastic chair watching Louis giggle into Edward's ear at the same time that he's hiked up on the man's back. His delicious thighs were wrapped all the way around Edward's waist while his brother waded through the water, although that isn't the purpose for why they're here. Louis' physiotherapist asked that they get him into the water for a routine that would strengthen his muscles.

Louis covered Edward's eyes with both hands and squeaked when his pinky finger got nipped. "Ow, Daddy."

Edward scoffed like the notion of such a small attack harming Louis amused him. "That didn't hurt, petal."

Nevertheless, his eyes weren't uncovered and Louis instead directed him to the edge of the level that would keep them above the water's surface. A step further and they're both sunken.

"Go on." Edward detached Louis' body from his back - however fussy it made the boy - and let him drift ahead. "This is your exercise, petal, not mine."

Louis thought it was time too and tried to recall every bit of training he received as an adolescent for swimming. He kept himself afloat by kicking his legs in slow notions back and forth, surrounded by heated water in a way that reminded him how powerless any creature on land really is. The feeling of being in the water was breathtaking and Louis was happy to soak it all up.

"Why don't we go swimming more often?" Louis asked loudly to be heard above the echo of every little noise. 

Edward watched Louis cautiously become submerged before resurfacing somewhere else, a fluid figure in everything he did. "Perhaps we could start now."

"I think we should." Louis made it to the opposite end of the pool that put a physical strain on their connection to keep each other close. 

Edward felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up to see Harry crouching at the pool's edge. "Can I help you?"

He ended up shifting a little to the right when Louis went below water level again and ventured a bit beyond on the shallow end. His feet couldn't touch the tiled ground and when he opened his eyes in the saltwater pool, the ground was many meters below him. It looked like a distant goal that's sunken in the pits of deep navy and blackening territory. A creature of any danger or skill could live there and no person at his position would know.

Harry dove into the water and all Louis felt was a series of waves colliding with his side. He remained transfixed by the mystery of the depths.

Edward leaned back against one of the markers situated along the walls of the pool and watched with his arms crossed as an amusing scene unfolded. Harry stealthily weaved his way towards Louis before capturing the boy and hauling him up from under the water. Louis was sputtering and protesting when he landed over Harry's shoulder, out of contact with the water. His dripping body was fitted to Harry's fireman's carry and he huffed in annoyance as his husband walked away from the deeper water. 

_"Harry."_ Louis whined and incidently scratched up Harry's back in his efforts to be freed. "Let me go, Daddy."

He huffed irritably when all he got in return was a swat to his vulnerable bottom. The water became a feature of decreasing depth and Louis was rightfully mad by the time he was brought to the shallowest region. Edward picked up on Louis' hostility because of being able to perceive his husband's frowning expression, deepset creases on his forehead.

"Hey, petal." He cups Louis' face and brings some balance to the boy by helping him up. Their eyes meet and he is very firm with trying to restore Louis' happier mood. "You can go back in there if you want, okay?"

Louis nods halfheartedly and let's Edward kiss him for comfort. He feels cold and uncomfortable now that he's out of the water and his body has adjusted to being in it. Harry let's Louis slide down his front until his legs can be hiked up on the man's hips and his back supported by two steely arms.

"Did I offend you, baby?" Harry thumbs over Louis' flushed cheeks and his concern is evidently etched onto his brow. "Petal?"

His better half is still dripping wet and his nose has turned a little red from the saltwater. Louis shakes his head to reassure his husband, but isn't himself too sure about how he feels. Harry's lips are felt on his forehead as the man attempts to redeem himself, apologetic enough to wipe away the damp fringe from Louis' eyes and knead the weakest spot on his spine.

"It's alright." He finally forces himself to say, smiling with a twitch. "I'm a little tired anyway."

  
* * * * *  


Edward and Harry have been asleep for an hour when Louis is brave enough to wake up from his spot on the bed. His husbands gracefully encouraged him to have it all while they slept awkwardly on the plastic guest chairs, undoubtedly giving themselves knots that _he'll_ have to massage in the morning.

He keeps his shoes off but socks on whilst creeping, practically on his tiptoes, out of the hospital room. The nurses' station has one occupant that he slithers stealthily by without her noticing. An elevator is risky to take when it makes as much noise as when it was broken, so Louis drags the heavy door open to the stairwell.

There is obvious protest from his knee that's a second away from being fully healed, only a little purple swelling still present. He ignores those dull aches to jog up the tremedous steps until he's four levels above his own room, at a secured patient facility. Louis is here because of a day ago when he took a walk with Harry, and spotted _N Horan_ on the list going up to this level.

Past the bank of steel elevator doors and barren nurses' station, Louis tiptoes toward the only hallway away from the waiting area. To block his path is a drone of a security guard, donning baby blue and twirling his pen in boredom. Louis curses under his breath from around the corner for not having any lady parts, that would enable him to flirt a little. If he's extremely lucky, _maybe_ this guard will fall for it anyway.

With nothing behind him to stop him, Louis decides on the front he puts with Harry when he needs something. Edward knew when Louis was fooling him, as did Harry, but only one succumbed to his doe-eyes and pouty lips. Now, Louis weaponises what his husband calls _adorable_ to get his way. 

A hand grabs his elbow and spins him around so suddenly that Louis stumbles to a fall. Thankfully, there's two arms that cage him in protectively - familiar in hold and roughness. He ends up holding onto those arms as his balance is restored and his vision clears up from blurry mobile images.

 _"What are you doing?"_ A crisp growl crawls down Louis' arched spine in slivers. They scrape his skin and rut dangerously close to his nerves.

Louis whimpers a bit under his breath from how _furious_ Edward sounds. He's not even holding back from bruising Louis' hips with his nails. "I-I had to see him."

"No." Edward sneers, leaving cold chills in Louis' blood. His palm comes down on the boy's bottom in a terribly audible _smack_. It wasn't playful or arousing like all the times before. 

"Ow-"

"Be quiet." Edward curts with a sinister gleam in his eye. Louis hasn't had this look aimed at him and he won't antagonise it further. 

"I-I'm sorry, Daddy." He mumbles shakily against Edward's oddly bare chest, bowing his head so it fits under the man's chin. Instead of sympathy, he gets another gruelling slap to his thigh where it stings painfully. "Ow! I s-said-"

"And I said _be quiet_." Edward's clenched jaw and feral green eyes dictate clearly how upset he is. "Are you going to speak?"

Louis shakes his head jerkily and looks down at his Pacman socks. They used to be his favourite. 

"Come." Edward refrains from praising anything about his mischevous, stubborn lover. He grabs Louis' hand and pulls him towards the elevators, only a little mindful of the fact that the boy's knee is presently fragile.

During the short elevator ride, Louis is left to have one foot atop the other while he sniffled against the cold entering his system through his thin socks. He had his hand in Edward's solid grip, blood flowing away from that part by the way he's turning whiter than chalk. If it were any other time, he'd open his mouth to complain.

Edward was _radiating_ blistering anger and it was becoming more obvious by the second. His cheeks were hollowed and his knuckles were taut enough to be splitting through the skin. Instead of mystical green, his eyes were haunted black and ravaged by a beast of impulse.

"I don't think two was enough." Edward says cryptically before stepping out through the elevator doors, ignoring the puzzled nurse while he tows Louis towards their room.

Harry is not to be seen in their hospital room when Louis is dragged into it, more and more fear building up in his constricted chest. He trips on something but doesn't allow himself to fall, instead being close to shrieking when Edward yanks him forward so they're close enough to be touching everywhere. 

Seated on the edge of the bed, Edward cradles the back of Louis' head to protect it as he bent the boy over his lap. Louis cried out from the sloshy feeling in his gut and the gasp of air that exits his lungs. He chews his bottom lip when he's left facing the mattress. 

Chest rapidly heaving with panic, Louis squeezes his eyes shut when his pants are yanked down under the curve of his behind.

"You're getting ten." Edward informs him, a coldness in his voice that Louis feared. "You will count each one."

The first smack to his posterior is what knocks the wind out of him, twisting his insides scarily. He counts mentally and fists the bed's blanket to withstand the harsh slaps. Edward didn't warn him or brace his skin for more, choosing a cheek at random before delivering each spank in quick, cruel succession. 

"How dare you try to be so devious?" Edward spoke in a voice thick with his raspy rage. "You were going to manipulate that guard, huh? Let him touch you? You're _mine_. No bastard will ever touch what's _mine_."

Louis had wet eyelashes and reddened eyes, tears rolling down his face from surviving his punishment. He has never been spanked like this before and he felt like his arse was on fire, the skin lit with flames and red enough to pass for that. It was enough for him, enough to exhaust him. 

Eventually the pain became what made Louis' heart ache with tears of blood. It felt like each smack has cracked him open and left him to bleed out, the energy behind them too great for Louis to handle without sobbing. It _hurt_ and turned into something vagrantly abusive when Edward was blinded by his monstrous angry.

"St-Stop!" He cried out desperately against his rules, wiggling to get out of Edward's grip. His husband yanked him back by his ankle and twisted the skin of Louis' thigh in a pinch. "It h-hurts, Ed-Edward! _Stop please._ Harry!"

Edward stopped inspite of the buzz in his veins and prickling sensation in his palm. He took a deep breath with his eyes closed and felt Louis crawl off his lap, not revealing his eyes until he's done counting to ten. The feelings of hostility and aggravation waned to a dull vibration in his subconscious. 

He looked for Louis and found him lying on the bed, behind still exposed to the chilly air, face buried in a pillow as his body was racked with violent crying. Edward's guilt was in a small ratio but still he woke up to fetch a cream from their bag, returning to Louis a little gingerly.

"Go away!" Louis shouted when Edward first tried to touch him, knocking the lotion out of the man's hands so it crashed without a mess. 

With a sigh, Edward found the courage to look at the damage he'd done. He had every right to punish Louis for sneaking off but never should have conducted it in such a gruesome manner. He tried again to pick up the lotion and dab some onto Louis' battered derriere. It was already turning a little blue and the sight made Edward sick.

"Stop!" Louis kicked him away and looked up with a furiously blotchy red, tear-streaked face. "Don't touch me."

Edward put the tub of lotion down and went about grabbing onto his resisting better half. He persued the task to completion when Louis finished almost kick a monitor over and break a support beam with his thrashing. Edward had an arm under both of Louis', holding the boy on his side across his lap. It was uncomfortable for Louis but at least his wounded bum wasn't in contact with anything.

"I want Harry." Louis scratched Edward's bicep over his skull in an aces card tattoo, obviously meaning to be offensive. 

"He isn't here." Edward spoke calmly, unlidding the tub and paralysing Louis with his strength. "Be still."

"I don't want you to do it." Louis ended with a soft sniffle and he wiped his tears off with the back of his hand. "I hate you."

"No you don't." Edward rubbed the cool cream onto Louis' heated skin, doing a thorough job. "I love you and you love me."

Louis shook his head weakly and resorted to clinging to Edward's forearms so he wouldn't fall. _"Hate."_

Edward kissed the top of Louis' head and rocked him gently before moving on to a second dose of lotion. It helped to significantly reduce the burn. "I'm sorry, petal."

"Okay." Louis coughed dryly into Edward's neck and didn't bother to cover it up. "I want Harry."

"Go to sleep." Edward set Louis up with half a dozen pillows and lie on his front. He pulled the blanket over his lover such that it avoided the boy's bum. "He'll be here when you wake up."

**_[A/N: I don't know what I've done with this chapter. Forgive me for it being such a disappointment. My week has been......one that I beg I will forget. - S xx]_ **


	15. XIII.

**_[A/N: Was shamefully missing Daddy kink so this chapter might be a little self indulgent. - S xx]_ **

"Hmph- Daddy?" Louis woke up to the scent of a familiar cologne and nuzzled further into it, possessive and needy at the same time.

Harry rubbed the sensitive spot between Louis' shoulderblades and let his petite husband sigh in content. "Right here, baby. Did you sleep well?"

Louis barely opened his eyes and he knew that Edward was nearby as well, the creaking of an obnoxious plastic hospital chair indicative of that. He mumbles something unintelligible to his own ears before hiding his face. His ass was on fire by the way he couldn't stop squirming to lessen the burden of such aching.

 _"Daddy."_ He whined softly into Harry's ear and rolled onto his front, arching his back a bit so that his bottom was to be noticed.

"Yes, love. I know." Harry chuckles when Louis tries gallantly to burrow into his chest. He picks up the tube of numbing ointment from the little table and tosses it to Edward. "Can Edward put it on for you, baby boy?"

Edward feels like a viper coiled around his heart and _strangled_ the throbbing muscle. He waits with hesitation and mind boggling fear for the first time, awaiting Louis' response. Louis nods into Harry's neck, the brother he chose to seek solace in, and yawns a little from being awake for a short time.

"Did you dream while you were asleep?" Harry asks Louis while his older brother squeezes some of the pale cream onto his palm.

Louis bites his lip and shakes his head no. He flinches when the abrupt coldness smoothens over his reddened derriere, relaxing once Harry starts rubbing his back again. "I'm hungry."

"Yeah? Edward brought food for you, love." Harry replies. "Do you think you can sit up and eat it?"

"Aha." Louis yawns again and his pearly blue eyes water a bit from the gush of air. He flexes his fingers and toes, gasping when there's a brief kiss placed on his right hip. 

"You have to eat it all, petal." Harry helps Louis sit up and get comfortable, allowing the boy's sensitive bottom to be cradled by a pillow on his lap. "You haven't been eating well recently."

Louis crosses his legs and angles his neck when Harry sits his chin on that part of him. The brown paper bag of food is still warm, the chinese take-out it contained smelling divine. Louis cracks open the container with his tangerine chicken and manages to gracefully ignore the two sets of matching eyes that gauge into his back.

He picks apart the delicious chicken fillets and scoops some of the spicy rice up with his plastic spoon. Harry mindlessly kneads Louis' hips where the flesh is plump and supple under his calloused fingertips.

"You okay, lovely boy?" Harry kisses Louis' shoulder and watches his husband eat. "You're awfully quiet."

Louis hums with a mouthful of food and sips from the chilled water bottle to swallow. He smiles when Harry's palm slides across his front to settle on his tummy. "Just thinking."

"Oh." Harry frowns a bit. "What are you thinking about, petal?"

Louis goes to answer but his throat closes up and he suddenly can't breathe. His hand comes up to clutch his throat, fingernails clawing at the skin when it feels like something is about to burst through. He gags on something clogging his air pipe, dragging in shreds of air that's minimalising with each passing second.

Something feels like a prick at the same does that it feels like a guttural stab wound. He whimpers from such a severe pain spiralling up his pharynx, crashing into his brain. His arms push away the table that's holding his food and with one glimpse, he sees that his food has morphed into the morbid image of spawning spiders. Each one black, each one with stinging prongs.

  
* * * * *  


"Louis!" A voice is prying him away from his terrifying nightmare, one that's just as scared as he felt. "Petal, wake up!"

His eyes open in a swift motion and he's battling to breathe in those first few moments. The air feels like it has no oxygen and all he can see is blinding white light, burning into his skull. His fingers fisted the sheets and the pain in his throat was only amplified by reality. The curve of his spine bent in an arch and his skin was drenched with sweat.

Louis was being aided into properly waking up but that crippling dream still had its claws in him. He felt that poison, the tickle of a spider's legs. His body was shuddering and jerking in small twitches, rebelling against the arms that encircled him.

Muted voices were unclear but they were all shouting, all demanding. Louis felt like someone lodged an active chainsaw in his brain and threw acid in his gut. He was gasping for air, fisting the sheets as someone hoisted him onto their lap.

"Listen to me." It was so soft, so far away. Louis felt like it could save him but he was _exhausted_. "Do you know who I am, petal? Listen to my voice."

Louis felt tears prickle to the corners of his eyes, like acid and molten rock. He's felt like this before and it struck a deep-rooted fear in him to be nearing that horror again. He was in the cage of his own mind, cowering from something that was only real within it. 

"Wake up, petal." That voice returned and Louis clung to it, the rope it tossed into his cage. "Come back, baby boy. I love you. I need you to come back."

That rope was getting thicker at the same time that it was getting further away. Louis' chest heaved in animalistic pants, his wrist sprouting a new form of pain from physical injury. It had to have happened in the real world because it helped jolt Louis right out of his frightening headspace.

He woke up sputtering and coughing from nothing but fright. His back hurt and his wrist was close to sprained. Someone rubbed his back and he recoiled before relaxing shakily, staring blankly at everything. The white light faded and he could see other things, the hospital bed and the arms coming up around him.

"Hey, petal." That honey sweet familiar voice whispered in his ear. Harry. "You're back, my baby. Are you okay?"

Louis whimpered and let his tired eyes close again, at peace with the truth that this world is the real one. His bones are weighing heavy and his mind even more so. He wraps his arms around Harry's one bicep and hides there. Edward is there and Louis feels that third hand rubbing his hip, one that he reaches down to grab. 

"Baby." Edward shuffled closer to him and kissed up Louis' chilly arm. He got to the boy's cheek and kissed around his cheekbone, swiping the string of saliva from Louis' lips. "Talk to us, petal. Are you alright?"

Louis sniffles and rubs his eyes, red rimmed and with bags beneath the piercing blue. He turns his face into the crook of Harry's arm where neither of them can see him feel so ashamed and frightened. It's a traumatic mix, one that makes his blood cold and his heart stop beating.

"Hey now." Harry pets Louis' hair, buried in concern. "You need to talk to us, petal."

Edward bites his lip with he hears the sniffles escalate to quiet sobs. He can't help but feel like a monster even if he isn't at fault. "This place isn't good for you, petal."

He kisses Louis' temple and his throat, feeling the heated skin on his lips. Louis' whine makes his jugular vibrate under Edward's ministrations, and he can't hide from his husbands anymore. He has a stuffed nose and a dry, awful tasting throat. Edward still encircles his waist and drags him out of his shell.

"There you are." The man praises Louis when the latter let's himself be held. 

Louis cloaks himself between the bodies of his husbands. He breaths are a little clogged with phlegm and his mouth tastes like ash. Edward cradles the back of his head so that he can be held without reluctance. Harry's arms are a protective cage that keeps Louis grounded and safe.

"We're going to take you home, okay?" Harry promises, pressing sporadic kisses all over Louis' face and neck. "Today."

Louis nods and whimpers from his oncoming migraine. He clings to Harry's shirt. "H-Head."

"Alright, baby. I'm sorry it hurts." Edward gets a bottle of Louis' prescribed painkillers and takes one out. "Open your mouth for me, petal."

Louis takes the pill from Edward, and for an unknown reason he examines it first before popping it in his mouth. He gets fed some water and blows his nose, wipes away the stray tears. Edward rewards him with a firm kiss. 

"Would you like to sleep more?" Harry massages his thumbs into the base of Louis' spine. "Or do you want to go somewhere else?"

Louis gives him an eager nod but nuzzles the man's shoulder to conceal his face. "Pl-Please?"

"Yes, baby. Of course." Edward stands up off the hospital bed and Harry soon follows. The latter carries Louis so the boy doesn't have to walk. "Where do you want to go?"

Louis shakes his head to say he doesn't know where he wants to go. He just doesn't want to stay in this hospital any longer. 

"We can go to a park. Walk around a bit, get some food in you." Edward suggests, gathering some of the appropriate clothing Louis can wear. "You need some fresh air."

Harry frames Louis' cheek and brushes some of his sweaty hair back behind his ear. He watches the boy tuck himself more securely into his embrace. "Think that would be okay, petal?"

It happened to only be okay after Louis was run through an event specific plan for their time outdoors. He spent a minute staring out the hospital window at a town he remembers as a vague, haunted memory. Who knows what changed about Middleston while he and the twins were out of its hair?

He's slightly worried about stepping out again into a town full of people with small minds. The sky is its usual gloomy grey, married to the unhappy clouds that lingered within it. Louis could tell it wasn't going to rain, the weather in Middleston just always seemed to have a vendetta against its people.

Edward came up to him with suitable clothing choices and helped Louis into them. It was difficult working around the glucose drip and IV until Harry called a nurse and informed her of their plan. She was happy to unhook the needles as long as Louis kept the plastic inputs strapped to his arm, and wore long sleeves to protect them.

Louis put on his Vans, an old pair that everyone he knew was aware he loved more than all the rest. He pulled on Harry's faded university hoodie - a possession Louis never questioned - and buried his nose in the soft, worn fabric. Edward captured his hand where it hid in the sleeve and smiled when his boy regarded him a little nervously.

"My beautiful petal." Edward whispered, pressing his lips to Louis' forehead. "I must do everything in the world's power to keep you with us, baby."

Louis didn't understand what his cryptic husband meant by that and stuck to not assuming anything. He smiled when Edward's lips connected with him in a slow, chaste kiss. Without thought he slipped under Edward's arm and snaked his own around the man's waist. He was that much shorter than Edward, he need not change a thing to be a simple companion that the man must guard.

Harry grabbed his barely charged iPhone and took Louis' other hand in his. He checked for his keys and wallet before leading Louis out, who in turn gripped Edward's shirt like he'd rather risk a fall than losing the man.

He was taken straight out of the hospital onto the sidewalk. Louis looked around them at the seemingly grey, dull habitat that is Middleston. There was never any life present in this uncharted town, only gruelling histories and petrifying personalities.

There's a few bikers who chatted to themselves on the street as they rode by. Across the hospital was the abandoned construction site for what was supposed to be apartment complexes. To the far East were the remains of a deadbeat business sector and the West held all the activity, suburbs and blocks of stores.

Harry picked out a frozen yogurt bar first because it was the most colourful thing in their eyeline. He chose an extra large cup - he and Edward would rather have Louis dump half than run low - and fills it with neat swirls of every flavour. Louis chooses what toppings he wants by pointing or mumbling, always looking away or at the ground like he was afraid of something.

"Right here, baby. We're right here." Edward kissed Louis' forehead three times while the boy swallowed small spoonfuls of coconut flavoured frozen yogurt. 

Louis offered Edward some of the coconut selection because it didn't agree with his taste buds, topped with a half bitten strawberry slice. Utterly innocent and undeniable, Edward eats it for him to lessen Louis' burden. The strawberries taste like plastic and the coconut treat had to have been made from cardboard but it was for Louis. 

Harry got to eat all the chocolate and strawberry flavoured yogurt because Louis only favoured the custard and bubblegum ones. The Oreos were a little stale but Louis chucked those to the corner and ate all his M&M's without complaint.

"Do you want real food, petal?" Harry took Louis' frozen, damp fingers and warmed them up between his hands. 

Edward looked around them for a decent place to eat. Their only options were the most expensive restaurant in town, or the complete opposite. "Chinese?"

"Nah uh." Louis shook his head energetically and leaned into Harry's chest, upset about something that the twins just couldn't handle.

"No Chinese then, baby." Harry rubbed Louis' back and kissed the top of his head. "What would you like?"

Louis chose the food that didn't require them to eat in any building. He made Harry get corndogs from a park stand, ones that tasted oddly delicious from a perky young woman. They sat on a bench together under the shade of a tree while Edward studied everyone who passed them and Harry studied Louis.

"I wish you'd tell me what your nightmare was about." Harry grazed Louis' cheek with his knuckle, wiping a bit of mustard off the boy's chin. "I want to take that fear away from you."

Louis smiled genuinely for the first time since he opened his eyes today. "I love you."

Harry grinned and leaned over a short gap to assert a kiss onto his lover's lips, twice over with sticky residue clinging to his lips afterwards. Louis' mouth twitches just a bit in his own muted giggle. 

"Come over here, petal." Harry helped Louis into getting more comfortable on his lap - a far more suited throne for his lover. 

Louis' legs land in Edward's lap where the man clasps both his dainty ankles, warm and rough hands rubbing over the cold skin. He finished his corndog and dumped thee skewer stick in his plastic tray, receiving Edward's as well because the man didn't like it.

"They're tasty." Edward's gaze snapped toward Louis when the boy spoke so eloquently. "I don't know why you don't like them."

Edward replies with a tiny, albeit reluctant, smirk. "Sometimes I'm silly, baby."

Louis eats the remains of Edward's corndog before settling in against Harry's chest. He feels both comforted and safe when the man's arms are so protective around him. The park is full of people even though it's nearing late evening and most folks were starting dinner. He watched the sun get dimmer and more masked by Middleston's infamous clouds.

"Do you like being outside?" Harry tucked some of Louis' fringe back and he kissed the lobe of Louis' ear. "Feel better?"

Louis couldn't deny that the fresh air reaching his lungs helped to expand the tightening muscles. He closed his eyes and could smell the pine trees, hints of urban life and the traces of plain earth. It felt natural, yet it didn't feel like home because he's been grown up in a city.

"Feels nice." He admits contentedly, letting the breeze dry the sweat from his skin and rustle his hair. "Wanna stay here, Daddy."

Louis couldn't be allowed to indulge in his fantasy of staying on that park bench as soon as he started sneezing. Harry helped him onto his feet and held Louis' hand so they could return to the hospital, fingers knotted together irrevocably. Edward took Louis' other hand and led him across the pedestrian walk, dialling a number on his phone. 

"Cold, baby?" Harry's arms were heavily draped around Louis' shoulders, almost entirely blocking the boy's face. 

"No." Louis pouted and Harry kissed him, bent his knees a bit and deepened the union. "Are you cold?"

"Never cold with you." Harry's nose bumped Louis' before his lips brushed against Louis'. 

Soft, peaceful laughter came from his husband and Harry smiled. Louis' feet were hurting by now and he bounced on his heels to give Harry a hint. "Daddy."

The elevator arrived and Edward led him into the empty car. Louis yawned and leaned into his husband's side, comfortable where he stood nestled under the security of a strong arm. He flexed his fingers between Harry's while the car moved upward and Louis counted the light beams shining on the mirrored walls.

Upon landing on their floor, Louis stepped out first but was restrained by his husbands who held a hand each. He didn't care much for their security measures and happened by a vending machine on his way to their room.

He stops them at the face of a multitude of snacks. "Money please?"

Edward looks at Louis' outstretched palm in evident surprise, Harry being immensely amused. "What for, petal?"

Louis would take the money himself if he knew which pocket the man's wallet was in. He pouts instead. "I want junk food."

Edward relents easily after that. Under conventional circumstances, he'd take Louis to a decent restaurant that would cost them hundreds of dollars to eat. They were all a little more than knackered and he wanted to get some rest as much as Harry did. He gave his younger brother a quick glance to check on him while extracting his wallet. 

Louis manages to gather a hoard of trinkets for himself, using Harry to pocket it all. He spends more cash than Edward would like on cookies and chocolate bars, chips and a pack of gum until Harry threatens to dump all in the bin if they didn't get a move on.

The nurse that's been in charge of Louis' stay checks on him after he has a refreshing shower. She isn't fooled by the treasure chest of goodies hidden under Harry's coat on Louis' bed, but also doesn't comment on it. Louis' vitals are checked and his blood pressure is measured before she goes about hooking him back up to the IV.

Louis notices Harry's foul mood and it bothers him. He has Edward on the hospital bed with him, lying with his head cradled by Louis' thighs as he shared in the pack of gum. Louis took in Harry's slouched, demotivated outward appearance from where he sat on the plastic chair. He was on his phone every two seconds before returning to the task of staring at the wall. 

"What's wrong with Harry?" Louis asks Edward, snatching up his _Chips Ahoy_ before Edward can eat one of the four chocolate chip cookies.

Edward sighs and turns onto his side, picking apart their collection of nonsense in colourful wrappers. "He's upset about something he won't share with me, petal."

"Harry?" Louis leaves Edward to play with his fingers and wedding ring, as he was concerned about his other husband. A set of deep emeralds met his gaze. "You okay, Daddy?"

Harry smiles for his pretty husband but it hardly reaches the perimeter of his eyes and falls to a miserable death again. He looks away and back at the wall, his knee bouncing under his clenched fist. 

Louis attacked Edward with light swats and pinches to get his attention. He met those fierce green orbs that were frowning up at him. "Daddy."

"Hmm, petal?" Edward twisted Louis' wedding band on his finger to look at the aged tattoo beneath it. He kisses the inked skin because he remembers the night they got it together. 

"Harry's sad." Louis pointed out the obvious and weakly massaged Edward's brawny shoulders. He was good at those and often gave his husbands massages when they were stressed or angry. It's how he got them to forgive him because he was usually the reason for their frustration. "Bring him here."

"He doesn't want to be here, petal." Edward had rolled nonchalantly onto his front and buried his face in Louis' bare thighs. "Leave him be."

Louis covered Edward's eyes to punish him. "If I was upset then you'd just leave me be, Daddy?"

"No, petal. That's not acceptable with you." Edward gave Louis' inner thigh a small tickle with his fingertips and nipped at the lightly tanned skin. "I may need to fuck you and how can I do that when you're upset?"

Louis gasped in scandal and swatted Edward's shoulder over his two-toned shirt. "How can you say something like that?"

"Because it's so true, baby boy." Edward murmured tiredly into Louis' desirable skin. 

It took a lot of hushed coaxing an hour after Edward fell asleep to get Harry in bed. He was more comfortable with his family in bed than a horrid plastic chair but Harry's mind was a million miles away. Louis sighed when he didn't even get a response from the man all through the time it took for him to strip to his boxers and climb in with them.

"Hey." Louis brushed Harry's hair back behind his ears and kissed his cheek. "Goodnight, Daddy."

  
* * * * *  


Louis' mind was empty, unbeholden to any thoughts whatsoever because never before has exhaustion been this _raw_. It ripped off the dwindling reserves of energy from his nerves and lit his chest on fire with burnt match sticks. He felt like he was dying from the inside out and nobody cared to save him.

He's never been faced with a horror of this grandeur before. It stared down at him, at his panic as if it had a tongue and could taste how afraid he was. He was _shaking_ and if not leaps closer to collapsing into a faint heap of an absent mind. This would kill him, now from a bullet or tomorrow from grief.

The decision faces him with viciously snapping teeth and blood dripping from those poised, sharpened canines. He could hardly breathe around the strangling vine of a broad arm wrapping around his neck, continually paralysing his resistance when he attempted an escape. His stature and weak strength work against him to magnificent standards, leaving him violently trembling and bruised all along his back.

 _"Choose!"_ A thunderous voice made Louis wince and choke on a scream when it rang out right beside his ear.

He looked up from the ground where the stone was cold and jagged, his swollen and bleeding lip quivering uncontrollably. The eyes he met were just as broken as he felt, two pairs of dignified defensiveness and towers of strength. _How did they get here?_

Louis swallowed thickly though his mouth was dry and his chest inexplicably hollow. He let his head hang lifelessly, no strength in his muscles and body to even keep himself upright. Dehydration and depression were the pair to administer if one wanted to utterly ruin a person.

"Choose!" Dexter bellowed again, picking up on the hesitation in Harry's eye so quickly.

Louis let a tear fall. It would stain his shirt and leave something behind. He knew how conflicted Harry was, because Edward was convinced already. Looking up after a choked sob from Dexter tightening his arm enough to throttle his air supply, Louis met Harry's eye and shook his head. 

He was going to give this up. He had to in order to save Anne's life. Dexter was making his sons choose between her and Louis, an easy choice for Edward but not for Harry. Louis felt riddled with misery from his guilt and extorted support. He was not going to let Harry live like this forever. He had to choose Anne, regardless of what happened to him afterwards.

Edward stood behind his brother, staring all the while at Louis without an expression. He had his fists clenched, bloody streaks across them. The elder twin was vibrating with rage but he had no way of expressing it without risking their petal. Louis pleaded with him through their non-verbal contact, desperate to have him change his mind.

"You made me choose." Louis' communication was cut short when Dexter pulled him closer and tugged Anne nearer as well, tightening the proximity of their choices. "Now choose for yourselves."

Harry was the one who had to make the biggest decision of his life. He was breathing unevenly and his head was too light on his shoulders, too many memories fleetingly brushing past his focus. His petal or his mother. The gun in his hand held no control over him, it was just him in this conflicted state incapable of a small choice.

His petal was begging him not to choose him but why wouldn't he? Louis was everything to him, the world and more. Harry wanted to toss the gun aside and _scream_ , pull at his hair and cry if it would get him out of this situation. He had blood on his hands and on his face, crimson lines across his skin and his own injuries on display. 

Nothing. Not a damn thing compared to the pain of maybe never holding his petal again.

"Choose." This time it was Edward who whispered to him, monotonous and callous with his brother. Even he has abandoned Harry to do this on his own.

When Harry looked back at him, Edward's eyes were on Louis. He wasn't going to lose a second with his lover. It felt like the end. Harry's hand shook as he tightened his finger around the trigger. There were no bullets, nothing to do.

His forfeiture was answer enough. 

Louis woke up gasping for breath and gagging on an awful taste in his mouth. He jolted out of his slumber so suddenly that he disturbed Edward's sleep as well, clutching the man's bicep with daggers for nails. His other husband was nowhere to be seen while Edward sat up in a haze and took Louis with him, setting the boy down on his lap.

"Shh." He was partially asleep even now but he had to comfort Louis. "It's alright, baby boy. You're awake now."

Louis' eyes were blown so wide that he could see expertly through direct and peripheral vision. He was panting like an animal that's run two marathons, grasping Edward's arm that's crossed over his middle. His back was aching and completely useless when he's this unsteady, shivering in fright while he sunk further and further into his husband's embrace.

His skin crawled with anxiety and _intoxicating fear_. He dug his nails into Edward's forearm and whimpered from the bright lights, the telephone ringing outside and the heat of his own skin. Edward kissed his temple and supported him, held him firmly around his waist. 

"We're leaving today, petal. I promise." Edward's lips met his neck and calmed his nerves, his fright. "I love you, baby boy."

Louis shuddered and wrapped himself up in Edward's arms to hide himself. "L-Love you too, Daddy."

Edward nibbled on Louis' earlobe as the claws of a terrifying nightmare withdrew from the latter's mind. "Do you feel better, petal? Is the fear all gone, baby?"

Louis feels soothed just by Edward holding him stiflingly close and kissing random spots on his upper body. He curls up into a ball on the man's lap to receive more affection. "I feel better, Daddy."

Harry was showering as Louis discovered later when Edward was pissed off at his brother's absence. He left Louis after the boy brushed his teeth to nibble on the leftover cookies from last night while he consulted with his brother privately. Louis winced and looked down at his cookie tray while the voices got louder and Edward's anger turned to red smoke that fumigated the entire room.

They came out of the bathroom one after the other and Louis mentioned nothing about the fight. He caught Harry's eye and smiled, but didn't get more than a brief grimace. It hurt his heart to see this and while Edward went to get the nurse so Louis could be more properly discharged, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed to wrap around Harry.

"Hi." He captured the sides of Harry's brooding face and kissed him tenderly. "I love you."

Harry gripped Louis' thighs as it was a reflex by now and grunted into the boy's neck. His body radiated frustration and Louis could feel it soaking into himself. 

Louis playfully nipped at Harry's jaw. "Silent treatment doesn't work with me."

Harry sighs into Louis' neck. He hugs his husband in a deathly hold and his exhales become more shaky, less certain. "I'm sorry, petal. I know you had another nightmare, baby. I'm sorry I wasn't there when you woke up."

"It's okay." Louis' memory threatened to drag him back to that trauma but he fended off his own weakness. "What's been bothering you, Harry?"

His husband shook his head in time for the nurse to return with Edward. The brothers were not on speaking terms by the looks of it and it made Louis nauseous. More than anything he hated that his husbands were fighting, because this is not the time in anyone's life to be hateful.

"Thank you." He spoke to the nurse who let him get dressed in his regular clothing and handed him the discharge papers. 

She smiled like a mother would and handed him his pescription for painkillers should his knee act up again. After she left, they packed up his bags and ensured that nothing would be left behind. Louis held Harry's hand no matter how much Edward glared at the connection, and took up Edward's free hand regardless of pride. 

Louis was never told why he was here and had to take care of that today. He hasn't seen Niall or anyone in less than a week and the suspense of not knowing whether anyone was safe, was ruining him. Harry wouldn't say a word when he asked and Edward always gave a cryptic response.

"Soon, petal. I promise." He whispered before kissing the boy's temple. 

They reached the ground floor of the hospital and Harry occupied Louis with a hug while Edward made a call. Harry disagreed with his brother's brutish approach to a solution and continued to glare daggers at Edward's back.

"Baby, I think I know why you're having so many bad dreams." He said softly, lips at Louis' temple.

Louis sobers at the return of his major dilemma. He looks down at his dusty shoes. "O-Okay."

"No, no. Baby, look here." Harry cupped Louis' cheeks and tilted his head back, chin raised because Louis must always be proud. Smouldering green met insecure blue. "You have nothing to worry about, my lover. Edward is going to make sure you never have a bad dream again."

Harry was not a supporter of Edward's plan but he was going to be loyal to their marriage. He encouraged Louis' bravery with a small smile that the boy welcomed. Louis turned his attention to Edward who was muttering away to someone on the phone, his one hand buried in the pocket of the coat. He saw Louis looking and paused for a moment to wink indiscreetly before turning away to continue his call.

"How?" Louis enquires. If there was a solution to his problematic dreams then he must know about it.

"He's going to show you why we're here, petal." Harry jabs the button the elevator and waits impatiently. 

Louis gulps at the mention of their purpose here. He knows that he has to be here for a reason, but was hoping to avoid it. The mystery eludes him along with the truth about his best friend and that friend's lover. Louis once witnessed a violence that will scar him more viciously than any personal attack. Friend hurt friend.

The elevator arrived and Harry tugged on Louis' wrist to get him into the cart, but someone else caught the boy's other hand. Edward held him back for the moment it took to end his phone call and glare daggers at his brother.

"Oh for fuck's sake, Harry." Edward hisses angrily, pulling Louis out of the elevator and securing him under his arm.

Harry steps out as well, a tower of intellect and mad strength just like Edward. The elevator doors closed behind him. "He doesn't have to see it, Edward."

"He must." Edward tightens his arm around Louis, leaving the latter to feel insecure and ignorant. "Now are you coming or not?"

  
* * * * *  


Louis stood frozen in his spot. He was immobile and his mind was utterly blank, a phenomenon in its own right. His feet dared not to move lest he hear more of the sickening crunch of what isn't gravel under them. Both Edward and Harry stood a few feet away behind him, at the car. Harry was the one physically restrained by Edward's hand on his shoulder.

The Madhouse was burnt to a crisp, powdered down to ash and a rusted iron skeleton. Some of those rods poked the clouds like they challenged them, bent over and swinging in the heavy wind. Smoke still rose from this tragic grave each time a board or shutter was moved, brushing aside the fallen concrete. 

The yellow police tape was dirty and torn off at one cardinal point. Louis felt the ground disappear beneath his feet and unsteadiness take over. "What happened to....th-the patients?"

Edward answered from continents away, his voice carried only by the ghostly wind as it raced over Louis' skin and caused goosebumps. "Thirty eight dead, petal."

Anne was here, Louis remembers the day they left her here with Dexter. He spins around to face his one nonchalant husband and the other that's battling so many demons at once. "What about your mother?"

Harry shoved off the vehicle and nearly sprained Edward's wrist with his abrupt act of pushing him away. He stalked around the bonnet of the SUV and got in the passenger side, the slamming door the followed no softer than his own anguish.

"Thirty eight plus one, petal." Edward answered solemnly. 

Louis' heart sunk at the news. He knows how much Harry loved his mother, to no small degree of affection was their relationship. Louis felt his sympathy arise in the form of tears when he looked back at the self destructed Madhouse, all the voices that loomed in the wind about it. He wiped at his frosty cheeks to hide the tears and took in the tragedy before him. 

Harry was so upset because he _knew_ Anne was dead and didn't share it with Louis, refused to lighten his own emotional burden. Louis bit down on his quivering lip to keep his heartache at bay. He thought about the grim expressions and sadness he's seen in Harry these past two days.

"Come on." Edward took Louis' hand from behind, how he came so close remaining a mystery. "You need to see your blond friend before we leave."


End file.
